vjU' I 


Division  "E>S  I  SO 
Section    .  fc  '  J  8  <L 


PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 


PROPHETIC  IDEAS 
AND   IDEALS 


A 

SERIES  OF  SHORT  STUDIES  IN  THE 

PROPHETIC  LITERATURE   OF  THE 

HEBREW  PEOPLE 


BY 

W.   G.  JORDAN,  B.A.,  D.D., 

PROFESSOR  OF  HEBREW  AND  OLD  TESTAMENT  LITERATURE 
IN  QUEENS  UNIVERSITY,   KINGSTON,  CANADA 


Chicago  New    York  Toronto 

FLEMING  H.  REV  ELL  COMPANY 

London   and  Edinburgh 
1902 


COPYRIGHT,    I  go  2, 

BY      FLEMING      H. 

REVELL     COMPANY 

October 


CONTENTS 


Page. 
I.     Introduction.     Prophetic  Literature  and 

Preaching    7 

II.     The  Prophet's  Defence 17 

(Amos.) 

III.  The    Prophet's    Comprehensive    Word — 

Mercy  29 

(Hosea  vi.  6.) 

IV.  The  Twofold  Sympathy  of  a  True  Pro- 

phet         45 

(Micahi.  1-9.) 
V.     The   Prophet's   Call  or  the  Vision  of 

the  King 57 

(Isaiah  vi.) 

VI.     The  Prophet's  View  of  Faith 71 

(Isaiah  vii.  9,  xxvii.  16.) 

VII.     The  Prophet  as  Statesman. 83 

(Isaiah  vii.,  xxviii.,  xxx.) 
VIII.     Prophetic    Fellowship    or    Unity    and 

Individuality 97 

(Amos,  Hosea,  Isaiah  and  Micah.) 

IX.      The  Prophet  as  Disciple in 

(Zephaniah.) 
X.     The  Prophet  of  Vengeance 121 

(Nahum.) 

XI.      The   Prophet's  Questionings 131 

(Habakkuk.) 

XII.      The    Prophet's    Presentation    of    God's 

Plea    141 

(Micah  vi.  1-9.) 

XIII.      The  Prophet's  Kingly  Ideal 155 

(Micah  v.  2-4,  Isaiah  xi.  1-9.) 


CONTENTS 

Page. 

XIV.     The  Prophet  as  a  Failure 163 

(Jeremiah  xviii.  18-23.) 

XV.     Aspects  of  a  Prophet's  Life 179 

(Jeremiah.) 

XVI.  The  Prophet  as   Priest 193 

(Ezekiel.) 

XVII.  The  Prophet's  Parable 211 

(Isaiah  v.,  xxviii.  23-29,  Ezek.  xv.) 
XVIII.     The  Prophet's  Message  of  Consolation..  223 
(Isaiah  xl.) 
XIX.     The   Prophet  a   Preacher  to  His  Own 

Age 233 

(Isaiah  i.,  xl.) 

XX.     The  Prophet's  National  Ideal 243 

(Isaiah  xli.) 

XXI.     The  Prophetic  Missionary  Idea 253 

(Isaiah  ii.  1-4,  xlii.  1-4,  Micah  iv,  1-4.) 

XXII.     The  Prophetic  View  of  Suffering 265 

(Isaiah  liii.) 

XXIII.  The  Prophet  as  Church  Builder 277 

(Haggai  i.,  Ezra  iii.) 

XXIV.  The    Prophet's    Promise   of    Peace;     or, 

The  City  Without  a  Wall 289 

(Zech.  ii.) 

XXV.      The  Prophet  and  Social  Problems 301 

(Malachi.) 
XXVI.     The   Prophet's   Protest  Against  Small- 

ness 3!3 

(Jonah.) 

XXVII.     The   Prophet  of  Judaism 327 

(Joel.) 
XXVIII.      The     Prophet's     Confidence;      or,     The 

Changing  Form  and  the  Eternal  Life  337 
(Haggai  ii.  6,  Hebrews  xii.  27.) 
XXIX.      Conclusion.     The  Ancient  Prophet  and 

the    Modern    Preacher 353 


PREFACE. 

The  present  volume  claims  to  be  considered  as  a 
series  of  suggestions,  not  as  a  complete  system  of 
prophetic  theology,  or  even  as  an  outline  of  such  a 
system.  The  chief  aim  throughout  is  expository 
rather  than  critical  or  apologetic.  An  attempt  has 
been  made  to  give  specimens  of  popular  exposi- 
tions based  upon  the  most  recent  study,  but  as  free 
as  possible  from  technical  discussion.  Hence  the 
variety  in  the  form  of  the  chapters.  In  accordance 
with  this  plan,  it  may  be  one  idea,  one  aspect  of  a 
great  prophecy  that  is  briefly  presented  (xiii,  xxii), 
the  life  and  ministry  of  a  great  prophet  that  is 
sketched  (xiv),  the  contents  of  one  small  book  may 
be  paraphrased  (xxv),  or  the  leading  thought  of 
another  investigated  (xxvi).  The  arrangement  of 
the  chapters  will  suggest  to  the  student  the  author's 
views  concerning  the  course  of  Israelitish  history 
and  the  development  of  Hebrew  theology;  this,  of 
course,  could  not  be  formally  presented  or  fully  dis- 
cussed. But  it  is  hoped  that  there  is  sufficient  unity 
in  the  midst  of  all  this  diversity  to  show  that  the 
various  themes  represent  closely  related  parts  of 
one  great  whole,  incidents  in  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable spiritual  movements.  The  prophetic 
movement  is  one  of  the  most  important  lines  of  the 
great  Revelation  and  through  the  reverent  study  of 
it  we  come  to  a  larsrer  knowledge  of  God  and  man. 


PREFACE. 

The  form  "Jehovah"  has  been  used  throughout 
to  represent  the  Sacred  Name  instead  of  "the  Lord" 
of  the  English  versions ;  where  "Lord  God"  occurs 
in  the  English  translation  it  is  therefore  replaced  by 
"Lord  Jehovah".  This  seemed  the  only  course  open 
in  a  book  which  being  meant  for  the  ordinary 
reader  was  yet  to  be  kept  as  near  as  possible  to  the 
Hebrew  original.  The  word  "Lord"  either  in 
Greek  or  English  cannot  in  this  case  be  regarded 
as  a  correct  translation  or  a  satisfactory  substitute, 
and  its  use  gives  us  a  general  and  somewhat  con- 
ventional term  instead  of  a  name  that  carries  with  it 
the  powers  of  distinct  personality  and  the  influence 
of  glorious  memories  and  definite  historical  associa- 
tions. 

The  author  desires  to  acknowledge  the  kindness 
of  his  friend,  the  Rev.  Prof.  J.  E.  MacFadyen, 
M.  A.,  of  Knox  College,  Toronto,  for  his  assistance 
in  reading  the  proofs  and  for  valuable  suggestions 
given  while  the  volume  was  passing  through  the 
press. 

W.  G.  J. 


INTRODUCTION— PROPHETIC  LITERA- 
TURE AND  PREACHING 


"The  Old  Testament  has  yet  a  message,  an  important 
message  for  mankind.  Were  it  better  understood  and  ob- 
served, our  politics  would  be  cleaner,  public  opinion  purer, 
and  our  statesmen  more  patriotic  than  we  find  them." — 
Extract  from  a  letter  to  the  author,  on  the  occasion  of  his 
appointment  to  the  professorship,  by  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  J. 
Robertson,  Superintendent  of  Home  Missions  in  the  North- 
west of  Canada. 

"He  who  does  not  know  how  to  transfer  himself  into 
spheres  of  ideas,  beliefs,  and  customs  different  from  those 
where  he  has  chanced  to  be  born,  lives  only  an  imperfect 
life,  lost  in  the  ocean  of  the  progressive,  manifold,  bound- 
less life  of  humanity." — Lamennais. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION— PROPHETIC  LITERA- 
TURE AND  PREACHING. 

The  title  of  this  volume,  "Prophetic  Ideas  and 
Ideals,"  indicates  with  a  sufficient  approach  to  ac- 
curacy its  character  and  scope.  The  prophets  dealt 
with  are  those  who  have  left  to  after  ages  specimens 
of  their  preaching  from  which  we  can  form  a  real, 
though  perhaps  in  some  cases  an  imperfect,  concep- 
tion of  their  place  in  history,  and  their  outlook  upon 
life.  The  period  of  their  ministry,  roughly  speak- 
ing, may  be  said  to  cover  a  space  of  three  centuries, 
beginning  at  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century,  B.  C. 
These  three  centuries  form  a  most  important  section 
of  the  history  of  the  Israelitish  people ;  the  period  is 
politically  a  time  of  disaster  and  decline,  but  out  of 
national  division  and  distress  there  come,  by  the 
good  providence  of  God,  and  the  faithfulness  of 
heroic  men,  religious  results  of  rich  significance  and 
far-reaching  importance.  It  is  not  proposed  to 
weave  into  a  system  of  theology  the  prophetic  con- 
tribution to  this  great  movement,  but  rather  to  at- 
tempt the  more  modest  task  of  presenting  a  series  of 
types  which  will  illustrate  at  the  same  time  the  unity 
of  the  prophetic  spirit  and  the  diversity  of  its  mani- 
festations.   The  constituency  that  the  author  has  in 

7 


8        PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

view  consists  of  theological  students,  youthful  min- 
isters and  intelligent  laymen,  who  take  an  interest 
in  the  history  of  their  own  religion.  Many  of  these 
chapters  have,  in  substance,  been  spoken  to  average 
audiences,  and  within  that  small  circle  have  proved 
that  the  lives  and  words  of  those  distant  men  may 
form  the  theme  of  helpful  discourse  to  men  of  to- 
day. "Ideas"  means  that  the  prophets  were  think- 
ers, honestly  facing  facts  and  consistently  applying 
God-given  principles ;  "ideals,"  that  they  were  men 
of  faith,  that  is,  men  who,  though  sharing  the  com- 
mon human  limitation  of  having  to  present  eternal 
truths  in  the  forms  of  a  particular  age,  were  yet  con- 
vinced that  changes  of  form  would  not  destroy  the 
realities  of  religion  which  gave  them  inspiration  and 
strength.  It  is  a  part  of  the  business  of  the  Chris- 
tian preacher  to  translate  these  ideas  and  ideals  into 
the  thought  and  language  of  the  twentieth  century, 
and  so  to  bring  them  to  bear  effectively  upon  pres- 
ent life. 

The  main  qualifications  that  the  present  writer 
can  claim  for  dealing  with  this  important  subject 
are,  first,  his  interest  in  the  work  of  the  ancient 
prophets,  and,  second,  his  respect  for  the  vocation 
and  ministry  of  the  modern  preacher.  "Every  scribe 
who  hath  been  made  a  disciple  to  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  like  unto  a  man  that  is  a  householder, 
which  bringeth  forth  out  of  his  treasure  things  new 
and  old."  The  only  way  in  which  the  modern 
preacher  can  hope  to  fulfil  this  description  is  by  hav- 
ing a  real  fellowship  with  the  great  souls  of  the  past, 
as  well  as  a  living  faith  in  God  and  a  sympathetic 


INTRODUCTION  9 

comprehension  of  present  needs.  It  may,  of  course, 
be  urged  that  this  is  difficult ;  that  the  times  of  these 
men  are  so  distant  and  their  lives  so  remote  from 
ours ;  that  the  words  they  have  left  are  so  scattered 
and  broken,  and  hence  not  without  painful  toil  can 
we  even  in  an  imperfect  fashion  reconstruct  their 
history  and  get  at  their  point  of  view.  That  is  true 
but  is  there  any  good  work  that  is  not  difficult?  If 
the  man  of  science  displays  his  devotion  to  truth  in 
earnest  efforts  to  reconstruct  earlier  forms  of  life, 
if  in  other  spheres  the  student  of  literature  and  art 
is  content  painfully  to  spell  out  the  meaning  of  an 
ancient  author,  or  seeks  sympathetically  to  interpret 
the  symbolism  of  a  great  painter,  surely  the  preacher 
may  be  expected  to  give  some  loving  care  to  those 
whom  he  claims  as  his  spiritual  ancestors.  He  has 
many  helps  at  the  present  day,  but  the  "helps"  of  the 
right  kind  are  precisely  those  which  demand  most 
severe  and  conscientious  work  from  himself.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  if  the  divorce  between  religion  and 
knowledge  is  not  to  become  real  and  deep,  the  min- 
ister must  be  content  to  accept  the  fate  of  the  effec- 
tive workers  in  any  noble  profession — that  is,  he 
must  work  carefully  through  processes  which  can- 
not be  seen  by  the  mass  of  people  to  whom  his  results 
are  presented.  Study  must  be  the  joy  of  his  silent 
hours,  in  order  that  his  speech  may  do  justice  to  his 
deepest  life  and  be  helpful  to  his  fellow-men.  This 
is  what  we  expect  from  the  doctor  or  the  artist,  and 
why  should  the  minister  be  free  from  the  hard  uni- 
versal law  ?  The  efficient  physician  must  keep  him- 
self familiar  with  many  sciences,  but  those  who  do 


io      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

their  work  most  thoroughly  bring  the  least  sugges- 
tion of  all  this  severe  discipline  when  they  come  with 
a  sympathetic  smile  into  the  sick  room.  The  artist 
must  study  anatomy,  but  we  do  not  wish  him  to 
decorate  our  walls  with  grim  skeletons ;  as  a  rule,  his 
figures  are  pictures  of  buoyant  health,  clothed  in  the 
most  graceful  drapery.  Neither  is  the  preacher 
expected  to  give  lectures  on  history,  to  discuss 
"theories  of  criticism,"  or  methods  of  exegesis,  but 
rather  to  do  all  that  preliminary  work  so  thoroughly 
that  his  exposition  shall  bring  the  noblest  spirit  of 
that  past  to  meet  the  questioning  of  the  present. 

This  process  cannot  be  made  easy,  but  so  far  as  we 
can  see  it  is  the  only  way  in  which  we  can  show  real 
reverence  tomen  who  in  their  own  day  were  not  given 
to  choosing  short  methods  and  easy  paths.  Building 
monuments  to  the  prophets  and  forsaking  their  spirit 
is  a  manner  of  worship  which  ought  by  this  time  to 
have  fallen  into  discredit  among  intelligent  men.  To 
praise  the  Scriptures,  as  possessing  the  supreme 
revelation,  involves  the  duty  of  endeavouring  to  ap- 
propriate the  message  in  its  varied  forms.  In  this  we 
have  the  example  of  the  most  faithful  and  effective 
teachers  in  all  ages. 

This  effort  to  get  back  to  the  actual  life  of  men  to 
whom  we  owe  so  much  can  only  be  partially  suc- 
cessful ;  but  the  effort  itself  is  both  a  religious 
exercise  and  a  means  of  culture.  It  is  not  a  mere 
literary  study ;  such  study  is  only  a  means  to  an  im- 
portant end.  Farther,  it  is  far  from  being  an  un- 
practical thing,  unless  for  us  practical  means  shal- 
low.    What  is  more  living,  and  in  the  best  sense, 


INTRODUCTION  1 1 

practical  than  this  very  effort  to  break  through  the 
barriers  of  our  local  limitations  and  personal  preju- 
dices, that  we  may  hold  sweet  communion  with  a 
noble  soul  of  another  time  or  race  or  creed?  The 
minister  whose  business  is  to  understand  and  sympa- 
thize with  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men  may  thus 
find  on  the  intellectual  side  of  his  life  a  real  prepara- 
tion for  those  duties  which  lay  the  largest  strain 
upon  his  heart. 

At  the  present  day  we  are  apt  to  pride  ourselves 
upon  being  "modern,"  but  some  who  are  least  mod- 
ern in  spirit  are  found  among  those  who  make 
this  their  loudest  boast.  If  the  latest  century 
had  any  distinctive  message,  if  science  and  the- 
ology have  united  to  emphasize  any  central  truth, 
it  is  this,  that  we  are  members  one  of  another, 
and  the  present  has  grown  out  of  all  the  past.  The 
obvious  lesson,  then,  is  that  to  understand  ourselves 
we  must  know  the  past.  This  is  a  truth  now  recog- 
nized in  every  sphere  of  science,  and  it  has  a  deep 
meaning  for  the  student  of  religion  who  desires  to 
realize  the  glory  of  his  great  heritage. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  prove  that  the  Hebrew  pro- 
phets have  a  message  for  our  time,  but  more  than 
any  definite  message  is  the  spirit  that  they  quicken 
in  the  devout  student  and  the  atmosphere  of  fearless 
faith  and  courageous  hopefulness  that  they  kindle 
about  his  life.  But  for  the  purpose  of  making  this 
statement  more  specific  two  points  may  here  be 
briefly  noted.  The  message  of  the  prophets  was 
largely  a  national  or  social  one;  individual  piety  is 
implied  and  the  problems  of  the  personal  life  begin 


12      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

to  emerge ;  but  in  the  main  their  address  was  to  the 
community.  The  preacher  who  will  try  to  discover 
for  himself  what  that  message  actually  was,  and  will 
seek  to  disentangle  its  essential  spirit  from  the  tem- 
porary form,  thereby  prepares  himself  for  dealing 
with  social  questions  in  a  sober  spirit ;  he  will  learn 
to  combine  boldness  with  wisdom,  and  to  express  in 
powerful,  appropriate  forms  the  passion  for  right- 
eousness. 

The  prophets  emphasize  the  unity  of  life.  In  our 
day  there  is  a  tendency  to  range  morality  and  phil- 
anthropy with  their  allied  forms  of  intellectual  activ- 
ity and  beneficent  ministry  outside  of  religion,  and 
if  this  process  goes  on  religion  will  be  emptied  of  all 
content  and  shrivel  up  into  a  narrow,  barren  eccles- 
iasticism,  the  very  thing  that  the  great  prophets  re- 
fused to  recognize  as  religion.  To  them  the  honesty 
and  purity,  the  kindness  and  loyalty  for  which  they 
fought  were  of  the  essence  of  religion,  its  living 
spirit  and  noblest  expression.  Our  life  is  more  com- 
plex, it  is  split  up  into  divisions  and  compartments 
of  which  they  in  their  simpler  days  never  dreamed ; 
but  good  men  still  hunger  for  unity.  We  wish  to 
know  that  God  is  everywhere,  and  that  God  is  all  in 
all.  Religion  for  us  must  embrace  our  philosophy 
and  politics,  our  worship  and  work,  our  personal 
aims  and  social  duties.  Because  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  represents  for  us  the  divine  and  human,  the 
mystic  communion  and  practial  endeavour,  devotion 
to  truth  and  the  pursuit  of  duty,  sonship  towards 
***  God  and  brotherhood  towards  men;  because  He 
brings    the    religion    of     the    spirit,    He    is    the 


INTRODUCTION  13 

interpretation  and  fulfilment  of  the  prophets' 
message,  and  in  the  light  of  His  life  we 
can  render  to  them  not  a  slavish,  mechan- 
ical homage,  but  a  sympathetic  devotion  which 
is  both  intelligent  and  free ;  then  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  prophets  will  attest  itself  to  both  head 
and  heart,  and  find  new  expression  as  well  as  more 
faithful  interpretation. 


THE  PROPHET'S  DEFENCE:    A  MEMORA- 
BLE CONTROVERSY 


"There  is  a  note  of  austerity  in  the  terms  in  which  Amos 
speaks.  It  is  true,  the  message  which  he  bears  is  a  hard 
one;  but  his  younger  contemporary,  Hosea,  had  substan- 
tially the  same  message  to  bring;  and  yet  there  is  a  marked 
difference  in  the  tone  in  which  he  delivers  it."  *  *  * 
"With  Amos,  God  is  the  God  of  righteousness;  he  himself 
is  the  apostle  of  righteousness;  he  is  the  preacher  whose 
moral  nature  is  moved  by  the  spectacle  of  outraged  right, 
but  who  does  not  unbend  in  affection  or  sympathy;  on  the 
contrary,  he  announces  Israel's  doom  with  the  austere 
severity  of  the  judge." — Dr.  S.  R.  Driver,  "Amos  and  Joel," 
page  3. 


THE  PROPHET'S  DEFENCE:    A  MEMORA- 
BLE CONTROVERSY. 

(AMOS  VII.) 

The  prophet  stands  always  on  the  defensive  in  a 
world  that  he  is  driven  to  denounce  and  condemn; 
but  the  tragic  thing  in  the  situation  is  that  those  who 
reject  his  message  cannot  sympathize  with  his  de- 
fence. Amos  and  Amaziah  represent  two  different 
worlds,  worlds  that  are  always  in  conflict,  and  that 
can  never  understand  each  other.  The  courtier,  the 
representative  of  luxury,  fashion  and  convenience, 
stands  now  face  to  face  with  a  stern,  strong  man, 
who  is  a  type  of  the  simplicity  of  religion  and  the 
supremacy  of  conscience.  How  can  these  men,  stand- 
ing at  such  extreme  points,  give  the  one  to  the  other 
a  sympathetic  interpretation  and  fair  judgment? 
Here  the  prophet  and  the  priest  stand  in  sharp  con- 
tradiction with  their  different  views  of  life  and  an- 
tagonistic conceptions  of  religion.  In  a  certain  sense 
Amos  may  be  said  to  understand  Amaziah,  for  he 
measures  him,  condemns  him,  and  announces  his 
doom.  But  though  this  Amaziah  is,  no  doubt,  a  thin, 
shallow  specimen  of  his  class,  it  is  possible  there  is 

17 


1 8   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

some  element  in  the  priest  and  his  sanctuary  that 
the  prophet  of  the  wilderness  cannot  fully  under- 
stand and  interpret.  On  the  other  hand,  Amaziah 
thinks  that  he  understands  Amos.  At  the  first 
glance  he  takes  him  for  one  of  the  common  herd 
of  "prophets";  a  man  who  for  a  morsel  of  bread 
seeks  to  create  a  sensation,  or  who  by  flattery  will 
win  the  applause  of  the  people.  When  the  indig- 
nant herdsman  repudiated  the  insinuation  with 
such  tremendous  vigour  he  must  have  been 
quickly  convinced  of  his  mistake.  Amaziah,  with 
his  plea  of  convenience,  passes  into  silence  and 
confusion ;  but  Amos  remains  a  clear  sign,  an  ever- 
lasting witness. 

A  NEW  EPOCH. 

In  these  days  we  are  taught  not  to  make  our  dis- 
tinctions too  deep,  our  contrasts  too  abrupt.  The 
warning  is  needed,  and  yet  there  are  distinctions 
which  must  be  made,  and  contrasts  that  deserve  em- 
phasis. ( i )  The  nation  is  now  about  to  come  into 
contact  with  great  world-empires,  a  contact  that 
continued  through  all  the  subsequent  history,  with 
its  Assyrian,  Babylonian,  Persian,  Greek  and  Roman 
periods,  and  influenced  largely  its  politics  and  reli- 
gion. (2)  Here  is  a  new  form  of  literary  activity; 
the  writing  down  of  sermons,  after  their  delivery,  as 
a  sacred  deposit  of  truth,  and  an  appeal  to  the  future. 
(3)  Behind  this  new  literature  there  lies  a  new  kind 
of  prophet,  and  a  higher  form  of  prophecy.  In 
Amos,  the  prophet  appears  as  purely  and  simply  a 
teacher  of  religion  and  a  defender  of  righteousness. 
He  has  a  clear  idea  of  his  vocation ;  prophecy  is  not 


THE  PROPHET'S  DEFENCE.     19 

with  him  a  business  or  profession;  he  is  a  special 
witness  with  a  definite  message.  All  that  we  know 
of  Amos  is  written  in  this  short  book ;  and  his  teach- 
ing stands  there  open  to  all.  Both  the  man  and  the 
teaching  are  marked  by  strength  and  originality ;  we 
can  discern  the  characteristics  of  a  great  personality 
who  hears  the  voice  of  God  and  looks  upon  the  world 
with  the  eye  of  faith. 

Amos  belongs  to  those  who  are  called  pre-em- 
inently "the  prophets,"  and  yet  he  rejects  the  title 
(vii.  14).  As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  had  been  bands 
of  enthusiasts,  and  guilds  of  prophets  that  had 
fanned  the  flame  of  patriotism  and  in  some  measure 
kept  alive  the  fire  of  religion ;  but  around  these  or- 
ganizations much  greed  and  impurity  had  gathered, 
and  this  man,  rejoicing  in  the  reality  of  his  call, 
seems  to  have  a  stern  satisfaction  in  disassociating 
himself  from  them.  Yet  this  is  not  the  whole  story ; 
for  besides  the  efforts  of  noble  men,  like  Samuel  and 
Elijah,  there  had  been  also  a  not  unworthy  attempt 
to  continue  in  many  ways  the  great  work  of  Moses. 
Amos  practically  says  that  the  responsibility  of  the 
nation  is  increased  by  the  fact  that  God  had  never 
left  himself  without  living  witnesses  (ii.  11).  We 
have  then  to  describe  Amos  as  a  "layman,"  who  re- 
ceives as  his  vocation  the  highest,  the  essential  fea- 
ture of  the  prophetic  work,  that  is  the  call  to  preach 
pure  religious  truth.  He  did  not  belong  to  an  organ- 
ized school,  he  did  not  take  part  in  actual  political 
intrigue,  he  was  not  a  public  legislator,  or  a  private 
professional  adviser ;  he  was  simply  an  inspired  man 
in  the  purest  sense.    He  represents  the  ideal  law,  he 


20      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

demands    loyalty   towards    God   and   righteousness 
among  men. 

This  cannot  have  been  an  absolutely  new  thought 
in  Israel ;  indeed,  we  know  it  was  not ;  earlier  stories 
and  songs  show  that  the  lofty  teaching  of  the  He- 
brew religion  had  taken  deep  root,  though  it 
appeared  in  simpler  forms.  But  it  gains  here 
a  new  emphasis,  a  deeper  meaning  and  a 
wider  range.  The  prophet  did  not  claim  to 
be  a  revolutionist,  making  a  clean  sweep 
and  a  new  beginning.  He  made  a  solemn  ap- 
peal to  the  past.  These  two  things  we  learn  clearly 
from  the  lives  of  the  prophets :  First,  that  not  by 
scepticism  is  superstition  to  be  fought  and  con- 
quered, but  only  by  the  presentation  of  positive  truth, 
which  quickens  a  nobler  faith.  And,  second,  that 
the  true  conservatism  is  progressive ;  the  only  way 
really  to  preserve  the  great  message  given  in  the  past 
is  by  grasping  the  essential  principles  that  are  at  the 
heart  of  it,  and  giving  them  new  expression  to  meet 
changed  conditions  and  fresh  needs.  The  prophets 
were  not  lawyers  interpreting  a  formal  law  that  had 
reached  a  final  form,  but  they  were  in  a  high  sense 
interpreters,  interpreters  of  a  living  past,  in  which 
God's  choice  and  guidance  of  the  nation  had  been 
abundantly  proved  in  peace  and  war.  The  prophets 
preserve  the  purity  and  strength  of  the  older  faith 
not  merely  by  denouncing  shallow  ritualism,  or  ridi- 
culing foreign  fashions  and  selfish  luxuries.  This 
they  do  with  a  fierceness  and  scorn  that  stand  in 
strong  contrast  to  our  fastidious  notions  of  polite 
preaching  (iii.  9-15;  iv.  1-3,  etc.).    But  this,  while 


THE  PROPHET'S  DEFENCE.     21 

much  needed  in  their  day,  is  only  the  negative  part 
of  their  teaching;  its  real  power  consists  in  the 
positive  presentation  of  loftier  thoughts  of  God  and 
nobler  conceptions  of  religion. 

THE    PROPHET'S    DEFENCE. 

This  great  task  brings  the  prophet  into  conflict 
with  popular  notions,  with  vested  interests  in  church 
and  state,  and  with  such  professional  prophets  as  are 
content  to  represent  the  average  opinion.  How  then 
shall  a  man  stand  up  against  a  bitter  and  universal 
opposition  and  meet  the  charge  that  his  new  gospel  is 
simply  the  product  of  his  self-conceit?  The  answer 
is  that  God  has  spoken  to  him  in  solitude,  God's  pur- 
pose has  been  revealed  to  him,  and  he  must  speak. 
The  doom  is  coming;  the  prophet  has  seen  it  in  vis- 
ion and  prayed  against  it,  but  it  cannot  be  completely 
warded  off ;  the  prophet  must  herald  it,  and  bid  the 
nation  prepare  to  meet  its  God  in  judgment.  This 
is  the  prophet's  own  explanation  of  his  ministry  and 
defence  of  his  message.  To  us  it  is  justified  by  the 
character  of  the  man  and  the  truth  of  his  teaching. 
The  God-sent  vision  justifies  itself  by  its  contents 
and  its  effect  upon  life.  The  claim  of  this  man  to  be 
inspired  by  God  cannot  be  settled  by  any  small  argu- 
ments, though  the  reasonableness  of  it  may  be  much 
more  apparent  to  us  than  it  could  be  to  his  contem- 
poraries. To  those  who  believe  that  a  living,  intelli- 
gent God  rules  the  world,  and  has  given  a  real  revel- 
ation of  Himself  in  the  life  of  this  favoured  people, 
the  message  attests  itself.  For  us  it  is  better  to  ap- 
preciate and  appropriate  it  than  to  argue  about  it: 


22      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

the  call  to  set  conscience  before  convention  and  re- 
ligion above  ritual  is  by  no  means  out  of  date. 

"Take  thou  away  from  me  the  noise  of  thy  songs ; 
For  I  will  not  hear  the  melody  of  thy  viols. 
But  let  judgment  run  down  as  waters, 
And  righteousness  as  a  mighty  stream." 

(v.  23,  24.) 

The  central  thought  of  Amos  is  that  the  God  who 
has  called  him  to  speak  is  a  being  who,  by  his  very 
nature,  places  righteousness  in  the  supreme  place. 
Though  we  cannot  say  that  the  prophet  is  a  "theo- 
logian" in  the  sense  of  working  out  a  philosophic 
system,  or  even  of  presenting  his  convictions  in  a 
systematic  manner,  yet  we  can  maintain  that  he  is  a 
consistent  thinker  and  that  there  is  a  living  relation- 
ship between  the  various  parts  of  his  message. 
What  then  does  the  righteousness  of  God  mean  to 
him  ? 

( 1 )  That  righteousness  is  the  purpose  of  the  na- 
tion's calling;  iniquity  is  not  to  be  excused  or  slurred 
over  because  committed  by  "the  chosen  people" ; 
rather  the  blessings  received  increase  the  guilt  of 
those  who  have  misunderstood  their  meaning. 

"You  only  have  I  known  of  all  the  families  of  the 
earth ; 
Therefore  I  will  visit  upon  you  all  your  iniqui- 
ties." 

This  means  a  reversal  of  popular  watchwords. 
The  people  have  been  fond  of  talking  about  "the 


THE  PROPHET'S  DEFENCE.     23 

day  of  Jehovah"  and  "Jehovah  of  Hosts."  Je- 
hovah is  a  partner  in  a  small  concern;  they  sup- 
ply Him  with  sanctuaries  and  sacrifices,  He  will 
give  them  prosperity  and  victories.  "The  day 
of  Jehovah"  is  coming,  which  means  confu- 
sion to  their  enemies  and  a  glorious  time 
for  themselves.  The  prophet  does  not  throw 
aside  the  old  words ;  they  are  too  good  to  be 
discarded.  Besides,  real  originality  does  not  consist 
so  much  in  inventing  new  words  as  in  breathing 
new  spirit  into  the  old  phrases  and  making  them 
thrill  with  new  life.  Sometimes  words  are  so  stained 
with  impure  associations,  or  have  so  completely  de- 
generated into  cant,  that  they  must  be  flung  con- 
temptuously away.  Probably  many  such  phrases 
were  cast  aside  by  noble  men  in  Israel.  Here,  how- 
ever, the  prophet  infuses  new  and  terrible  meaning 
into  phrases  that  were  spoken  glibly.  Yes,  he  says, 
"the  day  of  Jehovah"  is  near,  but  it  will  not  be  the 
bright,  noisy  festival  that  you  are  looking  for,  but 
something  quite  different. 

"To  what  end  is  it  for  you  ? 
The  day  of  Jehovah  is  darkness  and  not  light." 

(v.  18.) 

"Jehovah  of  hosts"  is  not  a  mere  leader  or 
patron  of  the  hosts  of  Israel;  He  has  other  hosts 
in  heaven  and  on  earth.  These  are  all  subservient 
to  His  will  and  carry  out  His  purpose ;  that  purpose 
can  be  expressed  in  one  word,  righteousness. 

(2)  Hence,  let  the  people  learn  that  religion  is 
not  luxurious  ritual,  but  real  goodness.    The  wor- 


24      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

ship  that  they  offered  was  in  name  given  to  Jehovah, 
but  it  was  utterly  unworthy  of  His  nature ;  it  was  fit 
only  for  some  paltry  idol  and  not  for  the  Lord  of 
heaven  and  earth.  When  a  man  of  the  character  of 
Amos  says  "Seek  good"  he  cannot  mean  merely  the 
pleasant  or  the  useful.  His  word  has  not  the  flexi- 
bility and  fulness  of  the  word  "mercy"  used  by 
Hosea ;  but  when  we  think  of  the  man  behind  it,  and 
his  stern  loyalty  to  God,  it  must  mean  the  real,  the 
true ;  or,  in  other  words,  the  people  must  face  the 
real  facts  of  life  and  accept  the  revelation  that  comes 
to  the  sincere  seeker  after  God.  From  this  point  of 
view  it  would  be  better  to  have  no  ritual  at  all  than 
to  have  sanctuaries  that  were  scenes  of  wicked  de- 
bauchery. Religion  might  live  in  mystic  communion 
with  God  and  display  itself  in  honest  dealings.  If, 
however,  a  church  and  a  ritual  are  necessary  they 
must  be  something  very  different  from  this  impure 
worship  by  which  God  is  insulted  and  man  de- 
graded. 

(3)  Inhumanity  and  injustice  is  the  worst  form  of 
irreligion ;  and  considerations  of  humanity  are  not  to 
be  limited  by  any  barriers  of  nation  or  sect.  (Chap, 
i.)  To  break  these  laws  of  humanity  is  to  outrage 
the  God  of  heaven.  God  desires  brotherhood  among 
men.  Amos  is  not  an  emotional  man ;  there  is  no 
touch  of  tenderness  in  his  proclamation  of  the  law. 
He  is  not  subtle  or  mystical;  there  is  a  grand  sim- 
plicity about  his  mind  and  character,  and  a  definite- 
ness  about  his  teaching  that  shows  the  limits  of  the 
man  as  well  as  the  glory  of  his  mission.  But  even 
when  we  recognize  his  hardness  and  sharpness,  we 


THE  PROPHET'S  DEFENCE.     25 

marvel  at  his  clear  vision,  his  deep  conviction,  his 
powerful  penetration  of  certain  elementary  truths 
and  facts  of  religion  that  need  to  be  constantly  re- 
stated. And  nowhere  is  this  more  striking  than  in 
the  splendid  humanitarian  teaching  of  his  first  chap- 
ter. With  him  this  is  no  effeminate  sentiment  or 
mechanical  philanthropy  or  political  party  cry ;  it  is 
his  simple,  stern  fashion  of  setting  forth  the  truth 
that  righteousness  and  kindness  are  of  the  essence 
of  religion ;  that  neither  must  be  forgotten,  and  that 
they  must  not  be  divorced  from  each  other. 

(4)  These  things  are  a  prophecy ;  they  went  direct 
to  the  heart  of  the  particular  problem  of  the  age, 
and  they  contain  a  message  for  later  times.  By  their 
strength  and  by  their  limitation  they  tell  of  great 
things  to  come.  Unless  the  world  comes  to  a  stand- 
still and  God  sends  no  more  men  of  this  or  similar 
spirit,  out  of  the  principles  here  laid  down  a  larger 
thought  of  God  and  a  broader  view  of  religion  must 
grow.  Such  principles  cannot  be  left  where  this 
prophet  leaves  them,  they  mean  more  than  he  has 
perceived,  they  are  prophetic  in  the  deepest  sense. 
By  life  more  than  logic  they  have  come  in  this  form, 
and  in  the  future  they  shall  be  advanced  both  by 
reason  and  experience. 

Upon  this  foundation  a  nobler  kingdom  must  be 
built  in  which  the  claims  of  God  and  the  needs  of 
men  shall  come  to  fuller  recognition.  When  Amos 
heard  a  voice  calling  him  from  the  flock  to  speak 
these  noble  words  it  was  the  voice  of  ONE  who 
will  not  be  satisfied  until  He  has  given  to  man  a  more 
perfect  vision  of  Himself.    He  is  patient  and  to  each 


26      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

generation  gives  a  new  word  and  guides  the  men 
who  are  seeking  to  spell  out  His  meaning,  until  "the 
fulness  of  times,"  when  the  Son  of  man  shall  link 
their  different  words  into  a  new  and  perfect  story  of 
Love. 


THE  PROPHET'S  COMPREHENSIVE 
WORD— MERCY. 


"The  words  of  Amos  sound  like  a  voice  from  outside, 
pealing  with  the  thunder  of  God's  anger  and  righteous 
indignation  against  wrongs  and  injuries  that  Amos  himself 
does  not  feel  bound  up  with.  The  characteristic  of  Hosea's 
book  is  that  the  burden  of  Israel's  guilt  lies  weighty  on  his 
soul ;  he  wails,  and  mourns  and  laments,  and  repents  with 
that  sinful  people.  He  cannot,  without  tears  in  his  eyes, 
contemplate  the  glorious  opportunities  that  have  been  flung 
away.  He  almost  expresses  the  vicarious  involvement  in 
their  guilt  and  carrying  of  their  sorrows.  That  is  the 
note  which  gives  its  exquisite  music  of  pathos  and  beauty 
to  Hosea's  prophecy  of  the  coming  downfall  of  his  own 
land  and  of  his  own  people." — The  late  Professor  W.  G. 
Elmslie,  D.  D.,  Expository  Lectures  and  Sermons,  page  62. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  PROPHET'S  COMPREHENSIVE 
WORD— MERCY. 

RELIGION  RATHER  THAN  RITUAL. 

(Hosea  vi.  6.) 

Our  Lord  has  shown  us  that  these  words  are 
worthy  of  our  most  careful  consideration.  He  gath- 
ered up  into  His  great  life  the  highest  and  holiest 
aspirations  of  the  ancient  prophets;  he  was  the 
greatest  of  prophets,  and  He  met  the  prophet's  fate 
because  the  Church  of  His  time  had  not  learned  the 
real  meaning  of  this  deep  saying.  That  thought 
should  give  us  pause  and  lead  us  to  ask  whether  we 
have  entered  into  the  heart  of  its  mystery.  On  at 
least  two  occasions  Jesus  Christ  used  these  words 
in  meeting  the  bitter  attacks  of  fanatical  opponents. 
When  He  had  ignored  their  hard,  selfish  distinctions, 
which  magnified  convention  and  caste  at  the  expense 
of  religion,  the  Pharisees  uttered  a  complaint,  and 
would  have  made  it  a  crime,  that  He  sat  down  at  the 
table,  in  a  brotherly  spirit,  with  those  whom  they 
classed  as  "publicans  and  sinners."  His  reply  was 
gentle  but  forceful,  and  in  their  view  it  was,  no 

29 


30      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

doubt,  exceedingly  presumptuous.  It  amounted  to 
this :  "You  misunderstand  my  mission ;  I  am  not  a 
Pharisee,  always  seeking  to  guard  my  own  dignity, 
but  a  physician  whose  business  is  to  heal  the  sick 
and  minister  to  the  sorrowful.  But  you  who  profess 
to  have  reached  finality  in  your  knowledge  of  truth 
and  your  observance  of  the  law,  go  learn  the  mean- 
ing of  this  great  word,  'I  will  have  mercy  and  not 
sacrifice' ;  do  not  lose  yourselves  in  petty  squabbles, 
but  ponder  it  in  the  light  of  our  nation's  history  and 
in  the  presence  of  your  God."     (Matt.  ix.  11-13.) 

When  His  disciples  had  broken  one  of  the  numer- 
ous minute  regulations  with  which  the  Pharisees  had 
fenced  and  burdened  the  Sabbath,  our  Lord  made  a 
great  claim  for  Himself  as  the  Son  of  man,  and  laid 
down  the  principle  that  the  Sabbath  was  made  for 
man,  to  be  an  inspiring  blessing,  not  a  crushing  bur- 
den. Then  he  added,  "If  ye  had  known  the  mean- 
ing of  this,  'I  will  have  mercy  and  not  sacrifice/  ye 
would  not  have  condemned  the  guiltless."  (Matt, 
xii.  7.)  To  infringe  their  microscopic  etiquette  was 
not  sin,  and  even  if  it  must  be  considered  an  offence, 
it  was  a  small  thing  compared  with  the  carping  spirit 
which  delights  to  say  unjust  cruel  things,  in  the 
name  of  religion.  It  is  a  sad  thing  when,  under  pre- 
tense of  great  zeal  for  the  maintenance  of  God's  law, 
men  are  sundering  the  sacred  spiritual  bonds  which 
should  bind  them  to  God  and  man.  If  this  were 
merely  one  incident  in  distant  history  there  would 
be  no  need  to  dwell  upon  it,  but  it  is  still  a  present 
danger. 

Our  Lord's  use  of  this  passage  shows  how  His 


THE  PROPHET'S  WORD— MERCY      31 

mind  was  saturated  with  the  prophetic  teaching,  how 
He  seized  always  the  essential  principles  and  used 
them  effectively  in  the  controversies  that  were  forced 
upon  Him.  Thus  in  the  highest  sense  he  fulfilled  pro- 
phecy, laying  hold  of  the  eternal  element,  lifting  it  to 
a  loftier  height  and  giving  it  a  wider  range.  To  us 
His  word  is  more  authoritative  than  that  of  the 
greatest  prophet,  but  the  critics  of  that  day  did  not 
regard  Him  with  any  reverence ;  to  them  that  word 
was  the  daring  speech  of  a  youthful  self-appointed 
teacher,  a  religious  adventurer,  a  man  destitute  of 
theological  education  and  ecclesiastical  prestige.  He 
did  not  use  prophecy  as  a  mere  weapon  of  contro- 
versy, He  was  not  simply  sheltering  Himself  behind 
an  authority  which  His  opponents  must  recognize ; 
His  own  life  had  been  nourished  at  this  source,  He 
reverenced  the  revelation  given  in  the  past,  He  knew 
that  it  was  His  great  mission  to  realize  it,  and  make 
it  a  heritage  for  all  men.  The  Pharisees  also  pro- 
fessed great  reverence  for  prophets — that  is,  pro- 
phets who  had  been  long  dead ;  they  really  thought 
that  they  would  be  glad  to  meet  an  Isaiah  or 
a  Jeremiah,  but  in  actual  life  they  had  small  faculty 
for  recognizing  prophets.  Jesus  lived  in  spiritual 
companionship  with  the  men  who  had  toiled  and  suf- 
fered for  the  nation's  noblest  life;  He  looked  calmly 
forward  to  the  prophet's  reward,  the  cross ;  and  He 
warned  His  disciples  that  the  world  was  still  the 
same,  that  they  must  be  prepared  to  suffer  for  their 
loyalty  to  God :  "If  any  man  will  be  my  disciple  let 
him  take  up  his  cross,  daily,  and  follow  me." 


32      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

HOSEA. 

This  brings  us  back  to  the  fact  that  the  man  who, 
more  than  seven  centuries  before  the  coming  of  the 
Saviour,  uttered  these  striking  words,  was  himself  a 
rejected  prophet,  "a  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted 
with  grief."  He  may  be  appropriately  described  as 
"the  prophet  of  love"  and  "the  prophet  of  the  broken 
heart."  The  earlier  prophets  who  spent  their 
strength  in  guiding  social  and  political  movements 
are  not  those  who  bequeathed  to  us  the  undying  ser- 
mons. The  man  who  completely  expresses  and  em- 
bodies himself  in  present  movements  does  not  create 
the  highest  literature.  The  life  of  such  a  man  may 
be  heroic  and  its  story  inspiring,  but,  as  a  rule,  it  is 
not  to  this  class  that  we  owe  the  words  that  live  and 
burn  through  all  the  ages.  The  men  who  have  given 
us  the  noblest  prophecies  were  men  who  brought  a 
deeper  revelation  of  God,  a  loftier  ideal  of  life,  which 
the  mass  of  their  fellow-men  did  not  appreciate  and 
would  not  accept.  Strange  it  seems  that  the  deepest 
things  of  life,  human  and  divine,  are  revealed  only  to 
our  sorrow  and  simplicity.  At  times  we  think  this 
arrangement  unjust,  but  in  our  better  moments  we 
can  say  with  our  great  Teacher,  "Even  so,  Father, 
for  so  it  seemed  good  in  thy  sight."  If  good,  then 
also  rational — that  is,  a  law  of  life  which  harmon- 
izes with  intelligence  and  love.  This  law  is  richly 
illustrated  in  the  life  of  Hosea ;  his  sorrow  was  pri- 
vate and  public,  it  concerned  the  small  circle  of  his 
own  home,  and  the  larger  circle  of  the  nation's  life. 
He  sorrowed  as  a  husband  and  as  a  patriot ;  through 
his  sorrow  he  came  to  a  deeper  knowledge  of  God's 


THE  PROPHET'S  WORD— MERCY      33 

love  towards  His  people;  out  of  this  knowledge  he 
has  given  us  a  passionate  prophecy;  his  utterances 
may  be  broken  and  disconnected,  but  there  is  in  them 
a  throbbing  emotion,  a  pathetic  tenderness,  which 
manifests  the  divine  pity  as  a  great  redemptive 
force.  It  is  difficult  sometimes  to  trace  out  clearly 
the  connection  of  his  thought,  or  to  discover  the 
exact  reference  of  particular  phrases ;  but  the  spirit 
of  his  ministry  may  be  plainly  discerned,  and  some 
of  his  noblest  sayings  have  passed  into  our  religious 
speech  and  song,  so  that  he  still  pleads  even  with 
those  who  have  no  time  for  specific  study  of  his 
book,  saying, 

"Come,  let  us  to  the  Lord  our  God 
With  contrite  hearts  return." 

"the  lost  ten  tribes/'' 

The  fate  of  the  Northern  Kingdom  of  Israel  re- 
minds us  again  that  the  race  is  not  to  the  swift  nor 
the  battle  to  the  strong;  or,  in  other  words,  in  our 
forecast  of  the  future  influence  of  a  man  or  a  peo- 
ple we  must  not  judge  by  mere  appearances.  When, 
after  the  death  of  Solomon,  the  national  unity  se- 
cured by  David  was  lost,  and  the  kingdom 
broken  into  two  parts,  the  Northern  por- 
tion was  larger  and  stronger.  The  King- 
dom of  Israel,  distinguished  now  from  that  of 
Judah,  set  out  upon  an  ambitious  and  appar- 
ently prosperous  career;  it  could  afford  to  despise 
the  brother  in  the  South,  and  sometimes  treated 
him  cruelly.  For  a  while  Israel  had  able  kings  and 
pursued  a  successful  policy;  this  kingdom  was  the 


34      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

scene  of  the  labours  of  some  of  the  most  famous 
heroic  prophets,  as  Elijah  and  Elisha.  All  this, 
however,  was  to  come  to  a  sad  end,  Hosea's  heart 
was  burdened  with  the  weight  of  the  coming  judg- 
ment, and  the  prophets  Isaiah  and  Micah,  who  fol- 
lowed him,  not  only  predicted  the  approaching  doom, 
but  also  lived  to  see  it  realized.  In  722  B.  C.  Samaria 
was  destroyed  and  the  nation  that  had  known  such 
brilliant  success  was  completely  shattered.  So  far 
as  having  any  share  in  the  abiding  life,  and  higher 
vocation  of  the  true  Israel,  these  people  were  lost. 
Particular  individuals  were  no  doubt  loyal  to  the 
faith  of  their  fathers  and  friendly  to  the  Kingdom 
of  Judah.  The  literature  of  Northern  Israel,  much 
of  it  of  the  highest  quality,  has  in  part  been  pre- 
served unto  this  day  and  by  God's  providence  handed 
over,  as  a  precious  everlasting  heritage  to  the  Chris- 
tian Church ;  but  it  has  come  to  us  because  it  was 
first  of  all  gathered  together  to  be  the  Bible  of  the 
later  Jewish  Church — that  is,  of  that  section  of  the 
ancient  Hebrew  people  who  survived  many  shocks 
of  change,  and  were  trained  to  a  faith  which  made 
them  strong,  separate  and  persistent. 

There  are  people  to-day  busy  seeking  "the  lost  ten 
tribes,"  but,  alas,  their  quest  is  vain ;  we  cannot 
argue  with  that  fanciful  theory  farther  than  to  say 
that  seeing  the  people  were  not  lost  in  any  such 
mechanical  manner  as  is  supposed  that  method  of 
seeking  them  is  doomed  to  failure.  This  nation  was 
lost  even  as  men  are  lost  to-day — that  is,  swallowed 
up  in  the  great  world's  whirling  tide,  absorbed  in 
the  great  characterless  throng.  It  is  the  fate  of  all 
weak,  characterless  people  to  be  swallowed  up  in 


THE  PROPHET'S  WORD— MERCY      35 

the  great  stream  of  life,  and  most  of  the  Northern 
Israelites  shared  that  fate.  They  had  persistently 
rejected  such  noble  teaching  as  this,  and  they  were 
driven  out  into  the  world  before  their  faith  was  suf- 
ficiently distinct  and  their  character  had  attained 
the  strength  which  could  stand  the  strain  of  being 
scattered  among  people  whom  they  resembled  too 
closely.  They  refused  to  respond  to  prophetic  in- 
fluences, they  would  not  grow  with  their  religion, 
and  a  nation,  like  a  man,  must  grow  or  die.  If  we 
are  asked  then  why  a  great  part  of  the  Hebrew  race 
failed  of  its  high  vocation,  why  the  great  number 
of  Northern  Israelites  were  lost,  we  can  truthfully 
say  that  it  was  because  they  would  not  learn  this 
great  lesson,  "I  will  have  mercy  and  not  sacrifice.." 
The  race,  however,  survived  and  did  its  work  in 
spite  of  this  and  similar  shocks,  and  God's  word 
proves  its  power  and  persistency  even  if  it  is  in  a 
way  that  suggests  that  God  is  careful  of  the  type 
and  careless  of  the  single  life.  That  problem  we 
cannot  now  touch,  but  this  much  is  clear,  the  young 
people  of  to-day  to  whom  so  much  high  instruction 
and  noble  inspiration  is  available  must  use  the  sac- 
red gift  on  peril  of  being  lost.  The  young  man  who 
does  not  gain  in  the  storm  and  stress  of  life  by  the 
action  of  inward  spiritual  force,  clear  convictions 
and  strong  character  is  lost,  swallowed  up  in  the 
great  heathen  host  that  ever  surges  around  the  true 
Church  of  God. 

THE  PROPHET'S  PROTEST. 

The  prophet's  hope  did  not  perish.    With  his  pas- 
sionate sense  of  the  Divine  love  he  felt  that  God 


36      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

must  have  a  people — that  loyal  souls  will  be  kept 
through  all  shocks  and  storms ;  so  more  by  love  than 
logic  he  felt  his  way,  and  in  his  own  manner  reached 
out  after  the  great  mystery  concerning  Christ  and 
His  Church,  and  if  he  was  not  in  a  position  to  pro- 
claim the  final  truth — "God  is  spirit;  and  they  that 
worship  Him  must  worship  in  spirit  and  truth." 
"For  such  doth  the  Father  seek  to  be  his  worship- 
pers" (John  iv:  23,  24.) — he  hungered  after  it,  and 
prepared  the  way  for  it. 

The  prophet's  complaint  was  not  that  the  people 
were  irreligious  but  that  their  religion  was  not  of 
the  right  quality.  They  were  full  of  zeal  for  re- 
ligion, they  had  many  sanctuaries  and  a  showy  ritual, 
their  religious  festivals  were  a  great  success.  Priests 
and  prophets  who  received  fat  offerings  and  were 
well  paid  for  popular  teaching  thought  that  all  was 
well.  They  regarded  Hosea  as  a  man  too  much  given 
to  melancholy  views,  a  man  driven  mad  by  much 
sorrow.  Did  they  not  pay  Jehovah  His  dues  ?  Would 
not  Jehovah  fulfil  His  part  of  the  contract  and 
strike  a  great  blow  ?  Would  He  not  defend  His  own 
home  and  His  own  people  against  outside  enemies 
and  foreign  gods  ?  That  was  their  argument.  Many 
a  rousing  sermon,  many  a  popular  speech  was  given 
on  that  text.  This  foolish  boasting  drove  the 
prophet  to  despair  because  he  was  compelled  to  rec- 
ognize the  sad  fact  that  people  did  not  really  know 
the  God  about  whom  they  prated  so  glibly.  What 
does  God  care  about  sanctuaries  and  sacrifices  ex- 
cept as  means  to  reveal  His  true  character  and  lift 
men  into  communion  with  Himself?  Amos  went 
boldly  to  the  most  fashionable  sanctuary  at  Bethel 


THE  PROPHET'S  WORD— MERCY      37 

and  declared  the  hollowness  and  helplessness  of 
such  worship:  "Prepare  to  meet  your  God,  seek 
God  in  simple  goodness,  not  in  vain  pomp  and  fool- 
ish show."  But  Hosea's  battle  was  longer,  his 
wrestling  more  severe  and  he  found  a  word  of 
richer  significance ;  his  word  suggests  the  love  of 
God,  and  the  loyalty  of  man.  Over  against  a  re- 
ligion that  was  showy,  sensuous  and  immoral  he  set 
up  his  ideal  of  reverence  and  righteousness,  of  noble 
character  and  consistent  conduct. 

THE   GREAT   WORD MERCY. 

This  word  "mercy"  has  a  long  history  and  a  large 
influence.  In  its  various  forms  it  is  used  of  the 
grace  of  God  and  the  godliness  of  men.  In  later 
days  and  in  one  of  its  forms,  it  was  used  to  desig- 
nate a  party  "the  godly  ones" ;  that  is  a  dangerous 
use  for  any  noble  word,  it  may  then  easily  be  de- 
graded by  men  who  deal  in  watchwords  overmuch. 
It  is  however  in  itself  a  rich,  sweet  word,  speaking 
of  kindness,  love  and  loyalty.  It  is  impossible  to 
translate  such  a  word  by  any  one  word  or  phrase ;  it 
unites  in  itself  many  things  which  we  to-day  view 
as  belonging  to  different  spheres.  Though  we  have 
these  things  in  more  highly  developed  forms  we 
must  remember  that  in  the  prophet's  conception  they 
are  really  present  in  seed-form.  To  the  prophet 
life  was  one,  all  the  world  in  which  he  moved  was 
God's  world ;  and  his  word  "mercy"  meant  loyalty 
to  God  in  every  part  of  human  life.  To  us  the 
world  is  larger  and  life  is  more  complex,  but  we 
need  a  new  synthesis,  a  bringing  together  again  of 
all  spheres  in  the  name  of  God ;  they  must  all  be 


38      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

lifted  up  into  the  light  of  His  love.  We  speak  now 
of  politics,  society,  art,  science,  theology,  religion, 
morality,  philanthropy,  and  there  is  a  tendency  to 
regard  these  as  so  many  separate  compartments  of 
the  great  world  or  even  as  so  many  different  worlds. 
The  form  of  our  life  is  different,  but  we  need  the 
spirit  manifested  by  the  ancient  prophets  to  give  it 
unity  and  power.  His  word  "mercy"  may  be  said 
to  concern  religion,  morality  or  philanthropy,  it  has 
to  do  with  all  because  in  his  view  these  are  only 
different  aspects  of  the  same  life.  He  met  a  religion 
that  was  divorced  from  morality  and  philanthropy 
and  he  refused  to  acknowledge  that  this  was  a  re- 
ligion in  any  real  sense.  He  refuses  to  be  dazzled 
by  external  splendour ;  perhaps  he  was  not  altogether 
deficient  in  the  aesthetic  faculty,  he  could,  no  doubt, 
enjoy  music  and  other  pleasant  accessories  of  wor- 
ship, but  he  declines  to  accept  this  as  a  substitute 
for  real  spiritual  life ;  in  the  name  of  God  he  cries, 
"I  will  have  mercy,  and  not  sacrifice." 

He  demands  an  intelligent  trust  in  God's  grace 
instead  of  a  blind  reliance  on  material  sacrifice. 
Jehovah  was  the  Redeemer  of  the  nation ;  of  Israel 
it  was  originally  said,  "Out  of  Egypt  have  I  called 
my  son."  Sacrifices  might  have  a  real  use  as 
symbols  of  the  living  bond  between  the  God  of 
Israel  and  His  people,  but  when  they  were  regarded 
in  a  coarse  mechanical  fashion  as  payment  for  His 
protection  they  became  harmful  instead  of  helpful. 
The  prophet  was  bold  enough  to  believe  that  re- 
ligion could  exist  without  sacrifices,  but  he  knew 
that  it  could  not  exist  without  living  faith  in  a 
righteous  God.    The  prophet's  view  of  religion  was 


THE  PROPHET'S  WORD— MERCY      39 

thoroughly  spiritual,  though  his  thought  of  God 
may  be  simple  and  his  conception  of  the  world  lim- 
ited. The  word  mercy  on  one  side  then  means  loy- 
alty to  God  as  the  Father  of  the  nation,  the  King 
and  Guide  of  His  people.  It  involves  a  perception 
of  the  fact  that  the  divine  blessings  are  not  merely 
abundant  harvests,  success  in  commerce  and  war, 
that  these  may  even  become  a  curse,  and  that  there 
are  other  and  higher  ministries.  The  root  of  a  real 
religion  is  in  the  reverence  which  recognizes  that 
God  must  first  of  all  be  faithful  to  His  own  high 
character,  and  that  to  respond  to  the  stern  demands 
of  love  is  the  only  worship  which  yields  satisfaction 
and  strength. 

The  word  demands  a  real  morality.  Perhaps 
there  were  supporters  of  the  popular  religion  who 
regarded  the  prophets  as  "mere  moralists,"  but  in 
so  far  as  the  phrase  has  any  meaning  it  is  not  ap- 
plicable to  these  great  preachers.  They  never 
dreamed  of  such  a  thing  as  morality  separated  from 
religion,  they  thought  of  noble  conduct  as  the  out- 
ward manifestation  of  real  religion.  The  man  who 
is  loyal  to  the  God  of  the  nation  will  respect  the 
rights  of  men.  They  did  not  oppose  morality  to 
religion ;  they  emphasized  the  neglected  side  of  the 
religious  life ;  they  held  that  the  religion  which, 
while  abounding  in  festivals  and  ceremonies,  failed 
to  produce  political  honour,  civic  righteousness  and 
social  purity  was  by  that  very  failure  condemned,  as 
lacking  true  inspiration  and  real  power.  The  thing 
that  distressed  the  prophet  was  that  religion  ap- 
peared to  be  popular  and  plentiful  and  yet  for  lack 
of  true  religion  the  social  fabric  was  falling    to 


40      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

pieces.  Since  that  time  theology  has  advanced  to 
deeper  thoughts  of  the  sacredness  of  the  solitary  in- 
dividual life,  but  in  order  for  this  to  reach  its  true 
expression  we  need  to  hold  fast  the  truth  that  we 
are  not  a  mere  collection  of  atoms,  but  a  living 
whole  in  whose  varied  life  religion  must  find  its 
highest  realization. 

Hence  the  word  "mercy"  calls  to  a  spirit  of 
brotherhood.  Piety  and  patriotism  must  again  be 
brought  into  living  harmony.  Worldly  prosperity 
had  ruined  the  national  life  in  Israel,  the  old  simple 
ways  had  departed,  and  religion  had  not  conquered 
and  moulded  the  new  conditions.  The  tribal  life  had 
given  way,  the  old  clan  feeling  had  lost  its  power; 
the  rich  were  greedy  and  cruel ;  the  poor  were  un- 
mercifully oppressed.  The  feeling  among  citizens 
that  as  servants  of  one  God  they  were  helpers  of 
each  other  was  weakened.  So  that  the  prophet 
looking  out  upon  the  social  disorder  could  say  of 
his  brethren  that  in  relation  to  each  other  they  were 
"more  than  kin  and  less  than  kind."  By  "mercy" 
he  did  not  mean  that  the  rich  should  pity  and  pa- 
tronize the  poor,  but  that  all  Israelites  should  stand 
on  the  same  plane  of  loyalty  to  God  and  each  other, 
that  men  should  be  esteemed  for  their  manhood, 
not  for  their  money;  and  that  the  strong  should 
have  a  brotherly  satisfaction  in  helping  the  weak. 

It  needed  the  life  of  Jesus  to  do  justice  to  this 
great  word,  to  incarnate  it  in  lowly  lovely  forms.  He 
has  gathered  it  up  into  Himself  that  He  may  breathe 
it  into  our  spirits ;  in  Him  reverence  for  God  and 
"the  enthusiasm  of  humanity,"  worship  and  moral- 
ity, religion  and  philanthropy,  the  deep  mystic  life 


THE  PROPHET'S  WORD— MERCY      41 

and  the  true  social  service  are  beautifully  blended 
and  stand  forth  forever  as  the  aim  and  hope  of  the 
Church. 


THE  TWOFOLD   SYMPATHY   OF  THE 
TRUE  PROPHET. 


"Woe  unto  you,  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites !  for  ye 
tithe  mint  and  anise  and  cummin,  and  have  left  undone 
the  weightier  matters  of  the  law,  judgment  and  mercy  and 
faith ;  but  these  ye  ought  to  have  done,  and  not  to  have  left 
the  other  undone." 

"O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  which  killeth  the  prophets  and 
stoneth  them  that  are  sent  unto  her !  how  often  would 
I  have  gathered  thy  children  together,  even  as  a  hen  gath- 
ereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not. 
Behold  your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate.  For  I  say 
unto  you,  Ye  shall  not  see  me  henceforth,  till  ye  shall  say, 
Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." — 
Matthew  xxiii.  23,  24,  37-39. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  TWOFOLD   SYMPATHY  OF  THE 
TRUE  PROPHET. 

(micah  i,  1-9.) 

It  is  often  said  that  we  know  nothing  concern- 
ing these  "minor  prophets,"  that  to  us  they  are 
simply  strange  names  from  out  the  distant  past. 
But  is  this  statement  correct,  and  if  correct  are 
we  not  largely  to  blame  ?  It  is  true  that  we  do  not 
know  much  about  the  circumstances  of  this  man's 
life,  but  it  is  equally  true  that  we  may,  if  we  really 
desire,  know  much  that  is  important  and  illuminat- 
ing regarding  his  real  life.  What  do  we  mean 
by  knowing  a  man  ?  To  know  many  outward  facts, 
and  minute  details  of  a  man's  life  is  not  necessarily 
to  know  the  man.  The  clear  convictions,  strong 
sympathies,  and  living  hopes  make  the  real  man; 
these  forces  give  energy  to  his  conduct  and  colour 
to  his  character.  We  are  surrounded  by  many 
men  of  whom  we  know  many  things,  and  yet  of 
how  many  must  we  confess  that  they  are  strangers 
because  we  have  not  gained  the  clue  to  the  domi- 
nant principle  of  their  life.  But  the  writings  of  a 
true  prophet  are  a  self-revelation ;  in  his  very  man- 
ner of  proclaiming  God's  will  the  prophet  reveals 
his  inmost  self. 

45 


46      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

In  those  days  when  names  were  not  mere  labels 
but  often  had  a  spiritual  significance  this  man's 
name  may  suggest  that  he  belonged  to  a  devout 
family  whose  members  were  loyal  to  the  true  God 
in  dark  days.  That  is  merely  a  conjecture,  though 
it  is  well  to  remember  that  to  the  prophets  the 
play  upon  the  meaning  of  names  was  not  a  trivial 
thing,  it  was  consistent  with  their  most  solemn 
moods  (i.  1016,  vii.  18).  Micah,  whose  name 
is  a  shortened  form  for  "who  is  like  Jehovah,"  was 
at  any  rate  a  zealous  champion  of  Israel's  God. 

Micah  was  a  native  of  Judah,  the  southern  king- 
dom, and  lived  in  the  same  period  as  the  great 
Isaiah  of  Jerusalem,  but  unlike  Isaiah  he  belonged 
to  the  poorer  class,  and  his  home  was  in  the  coun- 
try. One  is  an  aristocrat  and  a  courtier,  the  other  is 
a  peasant  and  has  no  great  love  for  the  cities.  To 
him  the  two  chief  cities  are  the  head  and  front  of 
Israel's  offences. 

"For  the  transgression  of  Jacob  is  all  this, 
And  for  the  sins  of  the  house  of  Israel. 
What  is  the  transgression  of  Jacob?  is  it  not  Sam- 
aria? 
And  what  are  the  sins*  of  Judah?  are  they  not  Jeru- 
salem? (i.  5.) 
This    is   not   without   significance.        It     might 
prompt  the   commonplace   remark  that   God   does 
not  limit  his  choice  of  prophets  to  any  one  class ; 
prophecy   can    appear   in    the   russet   garb  of  the 
peasant's  speech  as  well  as  in  the  purple  robes  of 
the  statesman's   oratory.      Perhaps   it   is  more  to 


^Greek  Version. 


THE  TWOFOLD  SYMPATHY  47 

the  point  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  it  is  the 
honest,  homely  countryman  who  predicts  the  des- 
truction of  Jerusalem  more  than  a  century  before 
the  hour  of  doom  arrived  (iii.  12).  It  is 
thought  that  belief  in  the  inviolability  of  the  city 
grew  out  of  or  attached  itself  to  the  teaching  of 
Isaiah ;  however  that  may  be  there  was  no  such 
possibility  in  the  case  of  Micah's  preaching. 
Micah's  prophecy  or  at  least  the  first  part  of  it 
was  delivered  before  the  fall  of  Samaria,  an  im- 
portant event  which  happened  in  the  year  722  b.  c* 
His  stern  denunciations  and  solemn  warnings  em- 
braced both  Israel  and  Judah. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  about  a  century  later 
this  particular  prophecy  concerning  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem  was  quoted  in  favour  of  the  prophet 
Jeremiah,  who  not  only  predicted  the  same  doom 
but  also  saw  its  sure,  steady  approach  (Jer.  xxvi, 
18) .  This  was  surely  a  better  use  of  a  text  than 
has  often  been  made  under  similar  circumstances. 
Too  often  the  ancient  document  has  been  used  to 
stifle  the  living  voice ;  Micah  being  dead  did,  in  that 
case,  speak  to  some  purpose.  This  is  all  the  real  his- 
tory we  possess,  all  else  is  late  tradition  of  quite 
uncertain  character.  What  is  certain  is  the  man's 
real  inspiration,  his  faith  in  God,  his  pity  for  the 
poor,  his  burning  indignation  against  unjust  rulers ; 
all  this  he  has  written  out  of  his  deepest  experi- 
ence ;  he  does  not  put  himself  prominently  for- 
ward in  the  sense  of  writing  direct  autobiography, 
but   he  thrust   forward  his  message  with  all   the 


*See  Chapter  III. 


48      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

weight  of  his  manhood,  and  in  that  message  we 
may  read  his  soul. 

The  question  naturally  arises,  how  is  it  that  we 
possess,  in  documentary  form,  the  preaching  of 
this  zealous  prophet  and  strenuous  reformer  who 
exercised  his  ministry  almost  three  thousand  years 
ago?  The  answer  is  that  we  owe  this  blessing  to  a 
generous  providence  by  which  the  world  is  ruled, 
ruled  so  wisely  that  when  the  chaff  supplied  by 
time-serving  teachers  is  swept  away  much  golden 
grain  of  true  teaching  remains.  Quite  true,  but 
providence  acts  through  human  life,  so  we  may  with 
profit  and  without  irreverence  carry  our  question  a 
little  farther.  There  was  both  writing  and  prophecy 
in  Israel  before  the  eighth  century  B.  C,  but  at  that 
period  these  two  things  come  into  a  different  rela- 
tion to  each  other.  From  that  time  we  receive  re- 
ports of  the  great  sermons  that  were  delivered,  and 
prophetic  literature  in  its  highest  distinctive  sense 
takes  its  rise.  Four  of  the  greatest  prophets — 
Isaiah  and  Micah  in  Judah,  Amos  and  Hosea  in 
Israel — belong  to  this  period.  Why  did  these  men 
write  at  a  time  when  the  pursuit  of  literature  was 
not  easy,  and  there  was  no  great  circulation  of 
books?  It  is  easy  to  see  that  these  men  are  speak- 
ers more  than  authors ;  it  is  face  to  face  with  the 
people  that  they  would  gladly  do  their  work  of 
denunciation  and  persuasion.  It  was  not  for  world- 
ly gain.  In  those  days  literature  had  not  become 
a  profession ;  and  indeed  in  any  age  it  is  the  ex- 
ception for  poets,  philosophers  and  preachers  to 
receive  much  recognition  for  their  toil  of  brain 
and  heart.    That  is  not  after  all  such  an  evil  thing, 


THE  TWOFOLD  SYMPATHY  49 

seeing  that  the  products  of  the  highest  kingdom 
cannot  be  paid  for  in  this  world's  current  coin. 
Neither  did  they  write  for  fame.  Personal 
reputation  and  literary  fame  were  not  re- 
garded in  the  same  way  then  as  now.  No 
one  can  tell  how  many  nameless  souls  have 
poured  their  best  thought  and  noblest  aspira- 
tions into  the  great  stream  of  literature  that  we 
call  the  Old  Testament.  So  far  as  we  can  learn 
the  great  prophets  began  to  write  down  their  mes- 
sages because  they  were  misunderstood  and  rejected 
by  the  people  of  their  own  time.  Prophets  of  an 
earlier  age  had  found  it  possible  to  put  all  their 
strength  into  the  actual  political  and  social  battles 
of  their  own  age.  But  while  the  eighth  century  is 
not  the  beginning  of  the  Hebrew  religion,  it  is 
certainly  the  starting  point  of  a  higher  prophetic 
movement  which  makes  its  solemn  appeal  to  the 
past  and  sets  its  face  steadfastly  toward  a  nobler 
future.  The  rejected  prophets  made  their  appeals 
to  God  and  to  the  future  time;  thus  the  despised 
message,  the  word  of  the  cross,  carries  down  the 
ages  its  lesson  of  warning  and  hope. 
"Now  go  write  it  down,  and  in  a  book  inscribe  it, 
That  it  may  be  for  after  days  a  testimony  forever, 
For  a  rebellious  people  is  this,  lying  sons, 
Sons  that  will  not  hear  the  instruction  of  Jehovah 
Which  say  to  the  seers,  see  not !  and  to  the  men  of 

vision 
Do  not  bring  to  us  visions  of  what  is  right, 
Speak  unto  us  smooth  things,  see  delusive  visions !" 

(Isaiah  xxx,  8-10.) 
Micah  had  the  same  faith  as  Isaiah  in  the  undying 


50      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

power  of  truth,  and  bore  the  same  testimony  against 
folly  and  unbelief  (iii.  5-8).  In  this  section  of 
his  prophecy  there  is  manifested  something  both 
of  severity  and  sympathy,  loyalty  to  God  and  pity 
for  man  (i.  2-10).  We  have  first  a  powerful 
description  of  coming  judgment  given  by  one  who 
sees  the  storm  approaching,  then  in  the  eighth 
verse  there  seems  to  be  a  sudden  revulsion,  an 
outburst  of  personal  feeling,  "therefore  will  I  wail 
and  howl,  naked  and  barefoot  will  I  go."  The 
prophets  do  not  write  or  speak  as  logicians  or  sys- 
tematic theologians,  but  as  men  whose  passion  ex- 
presses itself  in  poetic  forms ;  consequently  they 
paint  their  pictures  with  strong  light  and  deep 
shade,  the  transitions  are  abrupt,  they  pass  quickly 
from  one  mood  to  another.  The  startling  change 
is  especially  instructive  in  the  case  of  Micah,  a 
man  whose  mood  is  grim,  whose  attacks  upon  evil- 
doers are  rude  and  realistic.  Read  the  sublime 
theophany,  study  the  picture  of  Jehovah  coming  to 
judgment  riding  upon  the  high  places  of  the  earth, 
so  that  the  hills  are  melted  and  the  valleys  cleft. 
How  real  this  is  to  the  prophet,  he  sees  it  by  the 
eye  of  faith,  he  knows  that  it  must  be,  because  God 
is  righteous ;  he  acquiesces  in  it  and  seems  to  rejoice 
in  it — so  strong  is  his  sympathy  with  the  justice  of 
God,  but  when  he  realizes  all  that  it  means  for  the 
doomed  land  he  utters  the  mournful  cry,  "therefore 
will  I  wail  and  howl."  What  is  the  explanation  of 
the  abrupt  transition?  It  is  not  merely  because  it 
means  pain  to  himself,  loss  and  distress  to  the 
district  in  which  he  lived.  "For  the  wounds  are 
incurable ;  for  it  is  come  even  to  Judah ;  it  reacheth 


THE  TWOFOLD  SYMPATHY  51 

unto  the   gates  of  my  people,  even     Jerusalem." 
Neither  was  it  simply  grief  and  personal  bitterness 
that   the   people   have    rejected    his   message   and 
scorned  his  ministry.    That  those  considerations  en- 
ter as  elements  into  the  case  there  is  no  need  to 
deny.     Micah,  if  we  take  the  first  three  chapters 
of  this  book  as  a  decisive  specimen  of  his  work, 
does  not  seem  to  be  a  man  of  the  sensitive  emotional 
style  of  Hosea  and  Jeremiah;  there  is  a  plainness 
and  roughness  about  his  fibre,  but  it  is  just  because 
of  this   that   he   shows   most  clearly  that   he  has 
grasped  the  twofold  life  which  is  essential  to  real 
prophetic  ministry:  the  vision  of  divine  judgment, 
and   sympathy    with   sin-stricken,    sorrowful    men. 
He  is  on  the  side  of  God,  through  conviction  of  the 
divine  righteousness  he  enters  into  the  secret    of 
judgment,  but  what  he  sees  is  so  awful  that  he 
swings  round  to  the  side  of  men,  and  goes  into 
mourning  for  their  woe.    At  that  very  time  it  may 
be  that  the  world  is  making  merry,  that  the  church 
is  gay  in  her  festival  attire,  and  the  weird  figure 
of  the  prophet  comes  across  the  scene  preaching 
judgment  and  manifesting  pity.    This  change  from 
sternness  to  sympathy  is  not  weakness  or  inconsist- 
ency, it  is  real  prophetic  strength ;  this  spirit  is  the 
source  of  power  with  God,  and  influence  over  men ; 
the  prophet  because  he  has  been  so  near  to  God 
is  driven  close  to  the  heart  of  humanity.     In  the 
case    of   Micah   with    his    fierce   denunciation     of 
wicked  rulers  we  are  in  danger  of  forgetting  this, 
and  we  may  be  tempted  to  think  of  him  as  a  raving 
demagogue    (iii.   1-3)  .      Hence  it  is  important  to 
emphasize  the  fact  that  he  has  in  his  own  form 


52      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

that  twofold  outlook  and  double  spirit  which  is 
the  essence  of  the  deepest  religious  experience,  the 
noblest  spiritual  life.  The  prophet  speaks  for  God, 
but  he  speaks  from  within  the  circle  of  human  life, 
not  as  a  cold  outsider.  It  is  not  necessary  at  this 
point  to  describe  all  the  faculties  and  qualities  of 
a  true  prophet,  but  we  single  out  this  common 
characteristic  feature,  faith  in  the  living,  righteous 
God,  and  such  faith  as  begets  deep  sympathy  for 
men.  The  prophets  are  an  everlasting  proof  of  this, 
that  real  faith  in  God  does  not  make  men  depress- 
ing pessimists  or  cruel  cynics ;  life  is  dark  to  men 
who  see  judgment  coming  upon  a  corrupt  and 
thoughtless  generation,  but  in  reality  there  is  hope 
for  humanity  and  religion  behind  their  most  tragic 
lamentations  and  most  despairing  cries. 

The  prophet  is  just  the  opposite  of  the  Pharisee; 
these  two  types  are  separated  by  the  whole  dia- 
meter of  being.  One  is  throbbing  with  life,  he  is 
not  careful  of  appearances  if  he  can  only  rouse 
men  to  think  of  God  and  goodness ;  he  has  a  holy 
recklessness,  a  sacred  abandonment  of  self.  The 
other  defends  a  fixed  law,  a  hard  dogma,  and  is 
supremely  concerned  for  his  superficial  respectabil- 
ity. We  hear  of  "the  high  Church,"  "the  low 
Church"  and  "the  broad  Church;"  these  all  have 
their  strength  and  their  weakness,  but  the  Pharisees 
create  what  has  been  well  called  "the  hard  Church ;" 
the  church  that  has  lost  its  soul,  the  church  that 
has  no  care  for  the  outcasts,  no  pity  for  the  poor, 
the  church  that  crucified  the  Christ. 

From  this  point  of  view  also,  it  is  in  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  that  we  meet  the  highest  manifesta- 


THE  TWOFOLD  SYMPATHY  53 

tion  of  the  prophetic  spirit.  He  smites  hypocrisy, 
He  pours  out  His  hot  indignation  against  preten- 
tious unreality,  and  then  He  goes  forth  to  weep 
over  the  city  that  had  rejected  the  prophets.  Be- 
cause He  stands  so  near  to  God  He  comes  close  to 
the  human  heart;  the  divine  purity  gives  strength 
to  the  human  sympathy.  He  reveals  God's  right- 
eousness in  such  a  spirit  of  love  that  He  can  attract 
the  outcasts  of  society,  and  make  them  feel  that  in 
the  very  heart  of  judgment  there  is  mercy. 

This  then  is  the  spirit  of  the  true  preacher, 
"commending  ourselves  to  every  man's  conscience  in 
the  sight  of  God."  Though  the  matter  and  tone  of 
our  preaching  may  be  in  some  respects  different, 
the  spirit  is  the  same,  the  preacher  is  not  a  mere 
special  pleader  for  God  and  law,  any  more  than  he 
is  a  retailer  of  feeble  sentiment;  mercy  and  justice, 
strength  and  tenderness  must  meet  in  his  presenta- 
tion of  the  great  Evangel.  The  man  who  stands 
outside  of  us  and  in  a  mechanical  manner  declares 
that  we  are  sinners  and  merit  damnation  does  not 
move  us  very  deeply.  The  preacher  must  see  the 
vision  of  judgment  and  in  his  inmost  soul  weep 
over  our  sins.  This  can  not  be  put  on,  it  must 
grow  out  of  the  life  that  has  been  moved  to  its 
deepest  depths  by  the  manifestation  of  God's 
righteousness  and  the  pressure  of  human  needs. 
But  this  is  also  the  spirit  of  the  true  Christian  dis- 
ciple; in  this  sense  all  the  Lord's  people  must  be 
prophets,  then  every  faithful  soul  becomes  a  living 
link  between  earth  and  heaven.  Then  the  battle 
against  impurity  in  all  spheres  of  human  life  may 
be  fought  with  equal  zeal  and  less  bitterness.  From 


54      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

the  vantage  ground  of  a  higher  religion  and  a 
clearer  individual  experience  we  may  fight  for  the 
civic  righteousness,  social  purity  and  national  bro- 
therhood which  was  so  dear  to  the  prophets  of 
Israel.  We  must  each  have  our  own  Vision  of 
Judgment,  and  recognize  the  supreme  claims  of 
righteousness,  if  our  sympathy  is  to  be  effective, 
and  our  kindness  have  redemptive  force.  Then  will 
our  lives  be  made  strong  through  the  righteousness 
of  God,  and  gentle  through  the  love  of  Christ. 


THE   PROPHET'S  CALL,  OR  THE  VISION 
OF  THE  KING. 


"It  is  the  sovereignty  or  majesty  of  Jehovah  that  is  his 
main  thought.  The  conception  is  singularly  pure  and  lofty. 
It  is  a  worshipper's  thoughts  when  he  draws  near  to  God. 
The  vision  is  but  the  service  in  the  Temple  transfigured. 
The  prophet  fell  into  a  trance  while  beholding  the  service 
and  musing  on  its  meaning.  Suddenly  the  house  and  the 
service  and  the  ministers  became  transfigured ;  the  walls 
went  apart,  and  the  roof  lifted  itself  up  till  it  seemed  the 
high  dome  of  God's  palace  on  high  under  which  he  stood, 
and  the  Lord  the  King  sat  upon  His  throne  receiving  the 
adoration  of  all  holy  beings.  The  mental  history  through 
which  the  prophet  passed  has  a  singular  psychological  se- 
quence. And  his  own  experience  will  be  that  of  his  people: 
the  fire  of  God  burnt  up  the  impurity  of  his  lips,  and  the 
filth  of  Jerusalem  shall  be  consumed  with  a  blast  of  judg- 
ment and  a  blast  of  burning  (iv.  4).  Jehovah  is  a  fire  in 
contact  with  the  sin  of  His  people,  which  must  either  con- 
sume them  or  purify  them." — The  Late  Rev.  A.  B.  David- 
son, D.  D.,  "The  Temple  Isaiah,"  xii. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  PROPHET'S   CALL,  OR  THE  VISION 
OF  THE  KING. 

(ISAIAH   VI.) 

This  chapter  is  one  of  the  most  important  in  the 
history  of  revelation ;  like  a  great  picture  of  won- 
derful beauty  and  subtle  suggestion,  it  will  repay 
repeated  and  careful  study.  The  great  words  of  the 
chapter  are  heard  and  spoken  in  vision,  but  they 
cannot  be  called  visionary  in  any  shallow  sense ; 
they  are  intensely  practical,  they  contain  the 
prophet's  call,  they  give  the  keynote  of  his  life,  and 
sum  up  in  a  few  striking  sentences  the  spirit  and 
purpose  of  his  ministry.  This  vision  shows  us  how 
Isaiah  became  a  prophet,  and  gives  the  secret  of 
his  strong,  consistent  career  in  the  words,  "Mine 
eyes  have  seen  the  King." 

Isaiah  seems  to  have  spent  the  whole,  or  the 
greater  part,  of  his  life  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem; 
for  many  years  he  was  the  most  remarkable  figure, 
and  sometimes  the  most  influential  man  in  that  city. 
The  tribes  of  Israel  had  again  been  broken  into 
discordant  division,  and  Jerusalem  was  at  that  time 
the  centre  of  only  a  small  kingdom ;  but  this  man 
and  his  band  of  disciples  set  at  work  spiritual  in- 
fluences of  great  significance  for  the  higher  life  of 
the  world.     Though  the  Jerusalem  of  his  day  was 

57 


58      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

full  of  feebleness,  folly  and  wickedness,  we  can  trace 
in  his  teaching  the  beginnings  of  a  new  Jerusalem, 
Zion,  the  city  of  the  Great  King,  which  shall  not 
pass  away.  He  was  a  young  man  when  he  saw 
this  vision ;  as  he  stood  at  the  opening  of  his  great 
career  he  was  led  to  look  into  the  heart  of  things, 
and  to  see  the  real  meaning  of  his  life.  Probably 
it  was  later  in  his  life  when  he  wrote  down  this 
statement  for  the  use  of  his  disciples  and  the  service 
of  the  Church.  Before  he  committed  it  to  the  care 
of  men  who  loved  him  and  who  would  cherish  his 
memory,  he  had  often  pondered  its  meaning  and 
proved  its  power.  He  remembered  that  the  decisive 
moment  of  his  life  came  in  the  year  of  King 
Uzziah's  death.  When  the  proud,  successful  king 
had  been  brought  low  by  disease,  and  had  passed 
under  the  shadow  of  death,  the  young  patriot  was 
called  to  see  the  spiritual  temple  and  the  Eternal 
King.  Life  is  full  of  change ;  high  rank  and  worldly 
success  cannot  resist  the  attack  of  decay  and  death ; 
how  important,  then,  for  the  young  man  to  learn 
that  there  is  an  unchanging  kingdom,  and  a  King 
supreme  in  majesty  and  righteousness. 

About  the  time  that  this  crisis  came  in  the  life 
of  the  young  Jew,  the  city  of  Rome  was  founded. 
The  obscure  village  grew  to  be  a  city,  the  city  de- 
veloped into  a  State,  the  Republic  spread  its  power 
over  the  Italian  Peninsula,  then  it  launched  out  on 
a  conquering  career;  it  finally  subdued  the  civilized 
world  and  came  to  be  a  great  imperial  power. 
That  empire,  after  centuries  of  sway  and  influence, 
crumbled  to  pieces  and  left  its  varied  heritage  to 
the  life  of  mankind ;  new  empires  have  risen  and 


THE  PROPHET'S  CALL  59 

the  world  is  called  to  face  new  problems.  Isaiah's 
vision  remains,  and  the  spiritual  kingdom  to  which 
it  belongs  is  beginning  to  be  revealed  in  larger  out- 
line and  richer  fulness.  "The  grass  withereth,  the 
flower  fadeth,  but  the  word  of  our  God  abideth 
forever."  Distance  of  time  does  not  destroy  our 
interest  in  a  scene  which  is  a  parable  of  the  change- 
less life  and  part  of  the  upward  movement  of  God's 
kingdom. 

THE  VISION. 

This  is  the  only  vision  of  which  Isaiah  gives  a 
clear  and  full  description ;  he  no  doubt  had  other 
visions,  but  this  was  of  supreme  importance.  He 
elsewhere  alludes  to  the  fact  that  there  were  times 
when  he  was  gripped  and  subdued  by  the  strong 
hand  of  God.  (viii:  n.)  But  the  great  prophets 
did  not  hanker  after  visions  nor  boast  about  them ; 
they  did  not  seek  by  artificial  means  to  stimulate 
feverish  religious  excitement.  The  great  Apostle  of 
the  Christian  faith  tells  of  one  decisive  vision  at 
the  beginning  of  his  new  life;  he  tells  us  further 
that  he  was  constantly  meeting  with  small  men  who 
boasted  of  their  wonderful  visions,  yet  that  he  him- 
self steadily  refused  to  be  drawn  into  that  morbid 
strain.  The  real  test  of  the  vision  is  the  daily  life, 
and  no  two  men  can  stand  that  test  better  than 
Isaiah  and  Paul.  These  two  events  were  of  such 
high  importance,  because  in  one  case  the  revelation 
of  Jehovah  and  in  the  other  the  vision  of  Jesus 
marked  the  beginning  of  a  life-work  which  was 
to  have  great  and  lasting  influence  on  the  Church 
of  God.    It  was  a  vision  and  a  vocation,  a  conver- 


60     PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

sion  and  a  call.  The  visions  of  youth  may  be  of 
great  things  sought  for  self,  of  earthly  ambitions 
that  are  deceptive  as  well  as  brilliant.  There  were 
many  young  men  in  Jerusalem  spending  their 
strength  in  wild  revelry  or  in  pursuit  of  selfish  gain, 
and  for  them  there  was  no  voice  of  God,  no  vision 
of  the  King.  The  vision  came  to  the  young  man 
in  whose  life  the  two  vital  forces  of  patriotism  and 
religion  were  at  work.  The  vision  came  as  a  re- 
ward for  search  and  an  inspiration  for  service;  to 
the  seeking  spirit  was  given  the  open  eye.  The 
deep  secrets  of  experience  are  difficult  to  tell,  the 
finest  drapery  of  words  seems  too  coarse  to  express 
their  mystic  meaning.  Here  surely  the  Divine  Spirit 
has  guided  the  prophet  in  his  delicate  task;  the 
truth  in  its  infinite  suggestiveness  shines  through 
the  noble  forms  of  the  picture.  This  description 
of  a  kingly  presence,  and  of  the  attendant  seraphim 
who  chant  the  sublime  divinity  and  perfect  purity 
of  Jehovah,  is  a  reverent  unveiling  of  unseen  reali- 
ties ;  it  is  a  glorious  suggestion  rather  than  a 
finished  picture;  it  detaches  itself  from  the  crude- 
ness  and  impurity  of  those  dim  days  and  awaits  its 
fulfilment  in  the  words  of  One  who  possessed  the 
perfect  vision,  "Our  Father  which  art  in  Heaven." 
The  central  fact  is  the  vision  of  God  as  King — 
"Mine  eyes  have  seen  the  King."  You  say,  no  man 
can  see  God  and  live.  That  is  quite  true,  as  we  here 
see,  this  man  did  not  live;  in  a  very  deep  sense 
he  died.  The  vision  of  God  kills  that  it  may  make 
alive ;  the  fire  of  the  divine  revelation  burns  up  the 
dross  of  pride  and  passion.  The  great  need  of 
that  time  is  also  our  own  great  need,  a  true  vision 


THE  PROPHET'S  CALL  61 

of  the  divine,  a  lofty  thought  of  God.  This  alone 
can  meet  the  hunger  of  Isaiah's  soul  and  save  the 
nation  from  utter  failure.  The  popular  religion 
was  crude  and  impure ;  many  worshipped  idols, 
many  ran  after  a  spurious  spiritualism  or  reduced 
religion  to  a  sensuous  ritualism,  (i:  u,  ii:8,  viii : 
18.)  That  which  made  a  hero  of  this  young  man, 
and  gave  power  to  the  purest  religion  of  his  day, 
was  the  force  which  also  nerved  our  fathers  to  cast 
out  superstition  and  fight  for  liberty;  the  vision  of 
a  God  who  is  supreme,  who  through  His  righteous- 
ness is  really  kind,  who  is  revealed  in  Nature,  who 
rules  the  nations  and  who  does  not  disdain  the  cry 
of  the  penitent  soul.  No  argument  can  do  justice 
to  this ;  it  is  a  vision  and  a  life.  The  saints  and 
martyrs  point  to  it  as  the  object  of  their  love  and  the 
source  of  their  strength.  Men  of  mighty  intellect, 
of  childlike  heart,  of  pure  spiritual  aspiration,  have 
through  its  inspiration  saved  the  nation  from  despair 
and  the  church  from  failure.  The  men  who  have 
borne  the  burdens  and  fought  the  battles  which 
helped  forward  the  world's  highest  life,  knew  the 
meaning  of  the  words  "Mine  eyes  have  seen  the 
King." 

THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THE  VISION. 

It  brings  a  true  sight  of  self;  youth  has  restless 
energy  and  daring  impulse,  but  can  only  come  to 
real  greatness  through  deep  humility.  No  man  sees 
himself  truly  except  in  the  light  of  God's  presence. 
One  of  our  greatest  needs  to-day  is  the  need  of  a 
deeper  reverence ;  this  we  cannot  learn  by  rote,  and 
no  mere  surface  ceremony  can  supply  the  lack;  it 
can  only  come  through  the  consuming  fire  of  God's 


62      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

presence,  which  with  its  cleansing,  quickening 
power,  drives  away  our  petty  pride  and  foolish 
frivolity.  When  that  presence  is  realized  worship 
is  not  a  display  nor  an  entertainment,  but  a  real 
approach  to  the  eternal  throne. 

There  is  a  sense  of  the  sin  in  society  which  makes 
a  man  not  a  Pharisee,  but  a  prophet.  It  is  easy  to 
be  cynical  at  the  expense  of  our  fellows,  and  to 
pour  out  stinging  satires  on  the  shams  and  weak- 
nesses of  society ;  but  that  is  not  the  dominant  spirit 
of  the  highest  ministry.  In  the  all-searching  light  of 
this  vision,  Isaiah  sees  that  the  world  in  which  he 
lives  is  full  of  such  shams ;  speech  is  a  symbol  and 
expression  of  life,  and  speech  which  should  be  clean 
and  sweet,  as  well  as  truthful  and  strong,  is  vile 
and  unclean.  But  the  life  of  sinful  people  is  the  life 
the  prophet  shares,  the  atmosphere  he  breathes,  the 
sphere  in  which  he  lives  and  moves.  He  cannot 
flee  to  the  wilderness  and  leave  it  all  behind.  He 
must  be  in  this  world  but  not  of  it ;  this  he  can  be 
because  he  has  learned  that  sin  is  an  alien  power  in 
himself  and  in  society.  It  is  treason  to  the  divine 
King;  in  the  name  and  by  the  power  of  the  King 
it  can  be  conquered.  Through  the  influence  of  this 
deep  revelation  he  can  be  a  statesman  as  well  as 
a  religious  teacher,  a  social  reformer  as  well  as  a 
sacred  singer,  and  through  it  all  a  saint.  The 
vision  means,  then,  the  possibility  of  service.  If 
there  were  no  King  a  man  might  be  content  to  be  a 
time-server,  but  to  the  man  who  has  seen  the  King 
the  way  of  highest  service  is  open,  and  he  is  "not 
disobedient  to  the  heavenly  vision."  Life,  then, 
finds  its  real  meaning  in  service  to  God  and  man. 


THE  PROPHET'S  CALL  63 

Behind  this  man's  call  to  service  there  are  certain 
great  convictions  which  are  a  prophecy  of,  and  a 
preparation  for,  the  rich  personal  experience  which 
is  fully  revealed  in  our  Lord  Jesus,  and  quickened 
in  us  by  the  power  of  His  great  sacrifice. 

To  the  promise,  "Thy  sins  are  forgiven,"  our 
Lord  adds  the  call  "Follow  me" ;  in  a  different,  but 
still  in  a  real  way  the  same  close  connection  of 
two  great  truths  was  felt  by  the  prophet  Isaiah. 
Forgiveness  and  personal  cleansing  are  not  the  end 
but  the  beginning  of  real  religious  experience.  He 
has  seen  a  great  vision  and  heard  rapturous  sounds ; 
can  he  then  flee  from  the  world  and  be  at  rest? 
Can  he  not  find  shelter  behind  the  throne  and  listen 
forever  to  the  celestial  music?  No!  That  is  neither 
the  prophetic  call  nor  the  Christian  life.  He  who 
is  accepted  of  God  is  the  one  to  be  sent  back  to 
the  world  of  men.  Forgiveness  means  power  to 
conquer  sin,  and  therefore  power  to  help  men  in 
their  hard  struggles ;  sanctification  is  not  merely 
the  passport  to  heaven,  it  is  the  preparation  for 
highest  service.  God  needs  men  to  speak  for  him  on 
earth.  The  cynic  says  that  this  is  the  cry  of  our 
self-conceit,  and  that  we  might  serve  God  better  by 
silence  than  by  babbling  speech.  But  it  is  precisely 
the  man  whose  conceit  has  been  most  thoroughly 
purged  out  who  feels  the  significance  of  this  state- 
ment. The  power  of  heaven  is  seeking  to  break 
through  with  beneficent  influence  into  the  life  of 
man,  and  its  most  effective  medium  is  the  ministry 
of  faithful  men.  (Amos  iii,  7.)  And  at  last  it 
found  its  way  to  the  heart  of  humanity  in  the  form 
of  the  Highest  Man.    "God,   having  of  old  time 


64     PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

spoken  unto  the  fathers  in  the  prophets  by  divers 
portions,  and  in  divers  manners,  hath  at  the  end 
of  these  days  spoken  unto  us  in  a  Son."  That 
which  redeems  a  human  life  from  vanity  is  the 
thought  that  God  will  condescend  to  use  it.  The 
ministry  of  speech  seems,  in  our  unbelieving  mo- 
ments, to  be  a  small  helpless  thing.  To  meet  this 
we  must  look  back  upon  what  has  been  accom- 
plished by  those  who  spoke  out  of  a  strong  sense 
of  their  unworthiness  and  of  the  divine  helpful- 
ness; their  words  the  world  will  not  willingly  let 
die.  There  is  nothing  more  wholesome  for  us 
when  we  falter  and  lose  heart  than  the  reassuring 
voice  of  one  who  can  say  sincerely,  "Mine  eyes  have 
seen  the  King." 

This  high  service  comes  from  a  volunteer  who 
feels  behind  him  the  strain  of  a  great  spiritual 
pressure.  The  words  "Here  am  I,  send  me,"  stand 
forth  as  the  type  of  the  fullest  surrender;  they  are 
not  the  result  of  man's  coaxing  and  persuasion ; 
they  do  not  represent  the  slight  flutter  of  a  passing 
excitement ;  all  the  strength  of  this  young  man's 
nature  and  all  the  inspiration  of  this  vision  are  be- 
hind them.  There  already  slumbered  in  his  soul  the 
faculties  of  the  poet  and  the  natural  endowment  of 
the  statesman ;  now  that  he  has  the  living  fire  of  the 
prophet,  he  gains  strength  to  face  the  foe  and  to 
persist  in  spite  of  indifference  and  misinterpreta- 
tion. The  perseverance  of  the  saints  presupposes 
the  vision  of  the  saints.  In  the  darkest  hour  there 
remained  with  this  man  the  knowledge  that  though 
our  sight  is  dim  the  reality  abides,  the  King  upon 
the  throne  of  His  holiness  bringing  strength  and 


THE  PROPHET'S  CALL  65 

progress  out  of  what  seems  to  be  the  chaos  of  human 
history. 

THE   INFLUENCE   OF    THE   VISION. 

A  vision  in  which  such  clear,  strong  convictions 
are  communicated  must  prove  a  power  in  the  storm 
and  stress  of  life.  It  came  from  heaven  to  illumine 
and  quicken  the  prophet's  soul ;  it  gave  him  power 
to  face  the  people,  and  the  right  to  speak  with 
kings.  He  was  not  a  courtier  seeking  wealth  for 
himself  and  favours  for  his  friends.  He  longed  to 
have  the  throne  of  Judah  established  in  righteous- 
ness, that  the  visible  king  might  be  a  true,  if  im- 
perfect, representation  of  the  divine  King;  he  was 
indeed  the  most  kingly  man  of  that  generation  in 
Jerusalem,  because  he  cherished  a  lofty  ideal  and 
had  the  firmness  of  character  which  comes  from 
God-given  principles.  In  contrast  with  him  Ahaz 
was  vain,  sensual,  unbelieving;  and  Hezekiah  shal- 
low, feeble,  vacillating.  Their  shifting  policies  em- 
bodied no  real  principle,  but  were  mere  makeshifts, 
frantic  attempts  to  escape  by  any  means  from  pres- 
ent difficulties.  It  is  a  sad  thing  when  the  King  on 
the  throne  has  no  kingliness  of  character,  when  the 
ruler  manifests  the  weakness  which  in  its  practical 
effect  is  as  disastrous  as  wickedness.  How  would 
our  fathers  have  met  the  craft  and  cunning  of 
reckless  rulers ;  how  would  they  have  fought  politi- 
cal and  ecclesiastical  tyranny  to  gain  for  us  this 
large  place,  unless  they  had  caught  a  glimpse  of  the 
heavenly  throne  and  the  Supreme  King?  The  power 
to  speak  with  earthly  princes  in  the  name  of  liberty, 
truth  and  righteousness  has  ever  come  from  the 
Vision  of  the  King. 


66     PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

From  this  standpoint  the  prophet  had  power  to 
recommend  what  shallow  people  thought  to  be  a 
very  strange  policy,  namely,  the  policy  of  "splendid 
isolation,"  or,  in  other  words,  faithfulness  to  one's 
own  vocation  and  supreme  trust  in  God.  "In  re- 
turning and  rest  shall  ye  be  saved,  in  quietness  and 
confidence  shall  be  your  strength."  (xxx:  15.)  A 
great  word  standing  out  clear  amid  the  fever  and 
confusion  of  the  time.  The  "Jingoes"  of  Judah 
thought  that  their  tiny  kingdom  might  play  a  great 
part  on  the  diplomatic  and  military  stage.  In  the 
hour  of  weakness  they  craved  for  alliances  which 
cost  them  much  and  yielded  little.  Isaiah  fought 
against  this  political  folly.  He  would  have  the 
nation  keep  clear  of  these  costly  and  dangerous 
alliances,  and  stand  calmly  in  the  position  assigned 
by  Israel's  God.  You  say  it  is  a  foolish  thing  for 
a  paltry  little  kingdom  to  attempt  to  stand  alone. 
But  to  Isaiah  this  simply  means  that  the  nation 
must  be  true  to  its  vocation  and  faithful  to  its  God. 
The  prophet  was  beginning  to  see  that  the  nation 
must  find  its  strength  in  its  religious  life  rather 
than  in  worldly  splendour  or  political  influence. 
Such  preaching  must  always  seem  foolish  to 
those  who  have  no  faith  in  God,  or  even  to 
those  whose  faith  is  feeble.  If  a  nation 
has  no  strong  independent  life,  no  noble  na- 
tional character,  it  feels  loneliness  to  be  terribly 
oppressive  and  seeks  glittering  alliances  which  are 
usually  showy  and  expensive  but  yield  little  help  in 
the  testing  time.  If  a  church  has  little  apprehension 
of  the  Kingly  presence  it  will  seek  false  stimulants 
and  trust  in  cunning  little  contrivances.     If  a  man 


THE  PROPHET'S  CALL  67 

has  no  sense  of  God's  companionship  and  helpful- 
ness he  will  be  dependent  on  popular  applause  or 
the  approval  of  the  great.  To  be  alone  without  God 
means  weakness,  confusion,  death ;  but  to  feel  our- 
selves grasped  by  the  divine  power  and  embraced  by 
a  great  divine  purpose,  means  clear  intelligence  and 
abiding  power.  The  true  aristocrats  of  all  the  ages 
are  the  sons  of  God  who  could  say  "Mine  eyes  have 
seen  the  King." 

We  see  this  in  the  way  Isaiah  undertakes  an  ap- 
parently hopeless  task.  To  preach  to  an  indifferent 
and  unwilling  people,  to  prove  that,  under  certain  / 
circumstances,  the  very  fulness  of  truth  may  be  a 
blinding  instead  of  an  enlightening  power,  this  is 
a  great  test.  (Matthew  xiii :  12-16.)  Even  if  we 
admit  the  contention  of  some  expositors  that  the 
narrative  is  coloured  by  the  experiences  of  later  and 
darker  days,  it  is  still  quite  clear  that  the  young 
man  did  not  begin  his  ministry  with  flattering  hopes 
of  speedy  success.  He  knew  from  the  first  that  he 
was  called  to  what  the  world  regards  as  failure,  to 
be  a  preacher  delivering  a  rejected  message,  a 
statesman  struggling  with  insuperable  difficulties. 
Let  us  thank  God  that  no  man  can  realize  all  the 
details  of  the  continuous  cross-bearing;  to  meet  the 
actual  pains  is  sufficient  without  too  much  torture 
of  anticipation ;  but  let  us  at  the  same  time  rejoice 
that  a  man  of  faith  can  accept  the  principle  of  the 
cross,  that  noble  men  did  so  before  the  Christ  came 
to  reveal  all  its  richness  of  meaning.  To  seek  first 
the  kingdom  of  God,  to  place  principle  before  ex- 
pediency, to  declare  boldly  the  unpopular  truth,  to 
oppose  the  will  of  kings  and  the  demands  of  the 


68     PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

people  while  seeking  their  highest  good,  this  in 
such  an  age  meant  the  Cross.  That  this  man  should 
accept  the  prophetic  call  knowing  what  it  meant  is 
only  explained  by  the  fact  that  he  "endured  as  see- 
ing Him  who  is  invisible."  And  so  through  all  the 
conflicts  and  changes  he  came  to  see  one  thing 
clearly,  that  religion  springing  from  the  revelation 
of  the  Eternal  God  cannot  die ;  as  the  light  grows 
the  shadows  deepen,  those  who  see  only  the  dark- 
ness are  driven  to  despair,  those  who  take  comfort 
in  empty  things  preach  peace  where  there  is  no 
peace;  but  the  prophet  sees  both  sides  of  life,  the 
present  shame  and  confusion,  and  the  eternal  order 
which  struggles  toward  clearer  manifestation.  The 
movement  may  be  slow,  but  the  man  of  faith  fights 
the  heroic  battle  knowing  that  the  future  is  in  the 
care  of  the  righteous  God.  In  dark  days  the  prophet 
plays  well  his  part ;  he  is  a  sign  that  man  does  not 
live  by  bread  alone;  he  who  has  received  the  true 
vision  does  not  lose  it,  but  is  faithful  in  a  fickle 
world.  The  harsh  discords  of  the  world  ring  round 
him,  but  the  music  of  heaven  is  in  his  heart;  he 
proves  that  one  true  man  can  represent  the  kingdom 
of  light  and  love. 


A  PROPHET'S  VIEW  OF  FAITH 


"Credulity  is  not  Faith.  That  indolent  abdication  of  the 
responsibility  of  judgment  in  favour  of  every  pretender, 
that  superficial  assent  lightly  given  and  lightly  withdrawn 
is  utterly  at  variance  with  the  intense  clear  vision  and 
with  the  resolute  grasp  of  Faith. 

"Superstition  is  not  Faith.  To  choose  for  ourselves 
idols,  whatever  they  may  be,  to  invest  with  attributes  of 
the  unseen  world  fragments  of  this  world,  to  brood  over 
shadows,  is  to  deny  Faith  which  is  at  every  moment  active, 
progressive,  busy  with  the  infinite. 

"Conviction  is  not  Faith.  We  may  yield  to  what  we 
admit  to  be  an  inevitable  intellectual  conclusion.  Our  op- 
position may  be  silenced  or  vanquished.  But  the  state  of 
mind  which  is  thus  produced  is  very  often  a  state  of  ex- 
haustion and  not  of  quickening.  Till  the  heart  welcomes 
the  Truth,  it  remains  outside  of  us." — Wescott's  "Historic 
Faith,"  p.  6. 


CHAPTER  VI 
A  PROPHET'S  VIEW  OF  FAITH 

( ISAIAH  VII,  VIII,  XXX.   15-16.) 

Isaiah  is  called  the  prophet  of  faith  because  he 
affirms  so  clearly  that  there  is  a  vital  connection 
between  faith  and  character,  believing  and  living. 
Later  the  prophet  Habakkuk  gives  prominence  to 
this  truth  by  presenting  it  as  the  answer  to  doubts 
and  difficulties  concerning  the  government  of  the 
world,  and  by  the  supreme  emphasis  which  he 
places  upon  the  statement  that  the  just  man  shall 
live  by  his  faithfulness.*  In  Isaiah's  teaching 
the  idea  has  a  fuller  development  and  richer  set- 
ting; it  springs  from  his  central  thought  of  the 
majesty  of  God,  and  it  touches  the  whole  round  of 
human  life.  This  great  prophet  may  in  a  very  real 
sense  be  called  a  theologian,  not  that  he  works  out 
a  formal  abstract  system,  but  because  he  is  a  great 
thinker  whose  teaching  is  built  up  into  a  living 
organic  whole.  The  great  creative  ideas  hold  a  cen- 
tral position  and  stand  in  harmonious  relation  to 
each  other,  while  the  practical  applications  grow 
out  of  them  in  the  most  consistent  manner.  Such 
a  living  system  is  presented  in  beautiful  symbolism 


*See  Chapter  XI. 

7i 


72     PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

in  the  vision  through  which  the  prophet  was  led 
to  a  consciousness  of  his  high  vocation.  In  this 
system  faith  plays  a  great  part  as  the  force  that 
links  man  to  God,  and  gives  real  meaning  to  human 
life.  The  highest  illustration  of  this  is  in  the 
prophet's  own  life  and  career,  but  the  prophet  had 
the  gift  of  luminous  teaching  as  well  as  of  consist- 
ent living.  It  is  difficult  to  mark  absolutely  new 
movements  in  the  world  of  thought,  and  it  is  neces- 
sary to  guard  against  attributing  to  Isaiah's  use  of 
"faith"  all  the  later  associations  which  have  gath- 
ered round  the  great  word,  but  when  all  needful 
qualifications  are  made  we  must  recognize  in  his 
thinking  the  originality  and  spirituality  which  are 
the  marks  of  the  highest  inspiration. 

The  man  of  faith  according  to  Isaiah's  repre- 
sentation is  the  man  of  clear  vision  and  true  insight, 
who  sees  God  as  a  great  King  ruling  the  world  in 
righteousness.  Such  a  man  gains  a  correct  view  of 
himself,  and  sees  life  in  its  proper  proportions,  as 
a  manifestation  of  the  divine  majesty,  and  an  op- 
portunity for  faithful  service.  Zion  is  the  dwelling 
place  of  Jehovah  which  He  seeks  to  make  pure 
and  glorious.  The  people  of  Israel  have  received 
special  tokens  of  favour,  and  the  severe  chastisement 
which  awaits  them  is  a  manifestation  of  righteous- 
ness, which,  if  rightly  received,  will  prepare  the  way 
for  mercy.  Thus  while  the  man  of  faith  is  a  real 
patriot  and  makes  the  character  and  destiny  of  his 
own  people  the  starting  point  of  his  thought  con- 
cerning God's  government  of  the  world,  he  treats 
this  in  such  a  noble  spirit  of  religion,  and  gives 
such  a  broad  view  of  morality  that  there  is  in  his 


PROPHET'S  VIEW  OF  FAITH  73 

thought  the  promise  of  real  progress.  The  great 
truths  that  are  revealed  in  a  many  sided  fashion  in 
the  Old  Testament  came  by  way  of  the  living  ex- 
perience of  men  who  were  ever  seeking  to  under- 
stand more  fully  the  meaning  of  loyalty  to  God. 
Faith  meant  so  much  to  Isaiah  because  in  his  own 
way  he  thought  of  the  life  of  God  as  seeking  to 
express  itself  in  the  life  of  man.  Out  of  such  in- 
sight there  grows  lowliness  and  reverence.  No- 
where is  the  majesty  of  God  so  splendidly  ex- 
pressed, and  hence  no  prophet  speaks  with  fiercer 
scorn  of  the  levity  and  frivolity,  the  conceit  and 
arrogance,  which  show  that  men  have  no  sense  of 
the  greatness  of  God  and  the  solemnity  of  life. 
How  painful  it  was  to  the  man  who  would  say, 
"Mine  eyes  have  seen  the  King,"  to  behold  the 
giddy  multitude  hasting  after  foolish  fashions  and 
silly  superstitions.  From  this  point  of  view  it  fol- 
lows that  the  great  feature  of  the  "day  of  Jeho- 
vah" as  pictured  by  Isaiah  is  the  bringing  down  of 
every  high  thing  that  has  set  itself  up  in  pride  and 
self-dependence  against  the  glory  of  God. 
"Enter  into  the  rock  and  hide  thee  in  the  dust, 
For  fear  of  Jehovah    and    for    the    glory  of    His 

Majesty. 
The  lofty  looks  of  man  shall  be  humbled, 
And  the  haughtiness  of  men  shall  be  bowed  down, 
And  Jehovah  alone  shall  be  exalted  in  that  day." 

(ii.  10.) 
This  is  one  of  the  most  striking  notes  in  Isaiah's 
prophecy,  arrogance  is  branded  as  sin  and  folly. 
Mortal  man  ought  to  humble  himself  in  the  dust  be- 
fore God,  but  the  vision  that  rebukes  pride  does 


74      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

not  paralyze  effort.  The  man  who  so  humbles  him- 
self gains  strength  to  face  kings,  to  guide  the  peo- 
ple and  to  wait  calmly  in  the  most  critical  hours. 
This  vulgar  pride  is  lack  of  faith  in  God.  The 
frivolity  of  the  women,  the  sensuality  of  the  men, 
the  greed  of  the  rulers,  the  blindness  of  idolators, 
is  all  traced  to  its  real  root. 

"But  they  regard  not  the  word  of  Jehovah, 
Neither  have  they  considered  the  operation  of  His 
hands."  (v.  12.) 

Men  and  women  who  live  in  such  brutish  ignor- 
ance and  false  pride  prove  that  they  have  no  vision 
of  God,  consequently  no  reverence  for  human  life. 
To  those  who  have  not  been  bowed  down  by  the 
majesty  of  God  there  is  nothing  sacred;  religious 
festivals,  social  pleasures,  business  pursuits  are  all 
so  many  forms  of  selfishness  and  manifestations 
of  pride.  Faith  begets  reverence  and  transforms 
the  whole  of  life  into  a  pure  service,  hence  where  it 
is  lacking,  the  outside  magnificence  only  makes  the 
inward  hollowness  more  striking  to  the  discerning 
eye.  Men  who  trust  in  money,  in  horses,  in  their 
own  strength  or  in  fashionable  idols  instead  of  in 
the  living  God  are  all  doomed  to  disappointment. 
The  man  of  faith  whose  life  by  reverential  fear  is 
rooted  in  God  is  a  man  of  character;  he  can  trust 
without  being  afraid,  he  can  see  through  preten- 
tious shams,  he  can  be  calm  amid  the  panic-stricken 
crowd,  he  can  work  and  wait. 

"Bind  thou  up  the  testimony,  seal  the  law  among 
my  disciples  and  I  will  wait  upon  Jehovah,  that  hideth 
His  face  from  the  house  of  Jacob,  and  I  will  look 


PROPHET'S  VIEW  OF  FAITH  75 

for  Him.  Behold,  I  and  the  children  whom  Jeho- 
vah hath  given  me  are  for  signs  and  for  wonders 
in  Israel  from  Jehovah  of  hosts  which  dwelleth  in 
Mount  Zion."     (viii.  16-18.) 

(1)  From  the  standpoint  of  faith  the  prophet 
can  denounce  idolatry.  If  there  were  no  true  revel- 
ation of  the  living  God  the  eternal  King,  men  might 
make  idols  or  import  them  from  other  countries 
and  so  satisfy  the  craving  for  religion  which  is  so 
hard  to  destroy  but  so  easy  to  degrade.  If  there 
were  no  real  prophet  in  Israel  then  there  might  be 
some  slight  excuse  for  foreign  soothsayers.  But  to 
the  man  who  knows  the  righteous  God  and  can 
speak  for  Him,  how  hollow  and  helpless  is  all  this 
restless,  misdirected  activity!  The  coming  judg- 
ment will  shrivel  up  all  this  pretentious  foolish- 
ness. 

"And  the  idols  he  shall  utterly  abolish, 

And  they  shall  go  into  the  holes  of  the  rocks, 

And  into  the  caves  of  the  earth,  for  fear  of  Jehovah, 

And  for  the  glory  of  His  Majesty, 

When  He  ariseth  to  shake  terribly  the  earth." 

(ii.  19.) 

(2)  From  the  same  lofty  standpoint  he  can 
criticise  the  public  worship  of  his  time;  instead  of 
being  an  inspiration  to  goodness  it  is  presented  to 
Jehovah  as  a  substitute  for  the  same.  The  people 
trample  the  courts  of  the  temple  like  a  herd  of  sense- 
less cattle.  "Wickedness  and  worship"  they  have 
wedded  together  and  they  do  not  see  the  horrible 
inconsistency.  On  the  other  hand  they  have 
divorced  religion  from  morality,  that  which   God 


76      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

has  joined  they  have  rent  asunder.     If  they  had 

faith,  they  would  know  that  more  than  showy  ritual 

is  obedience  to  this  great  command. 

"Wash  you,  make  you  clean ; 

Put  away  the  evil  of  your  doings  from  before  mine 

eyes ; 
Cease  to  do  evil ;  learn  to  do  well ; 
Seek  judgment,  relieve  the  oppressed, 
Judge  the  fatherless,  plead  for  the  widow." 

(i.  16-17.) 
(3)  A  man  who  thus  faces  facts  and  finds  God 
in  common  duties  could  have  nothing  but  contempt 
for  the  false  spiritualism  of  the  day.  "And  when 
they  shall  say  unto  you,  seek  unto  them  that  have 
familiar  spirits,  and  unto  wizards  that  peep  and 
mutter:  should  not  a  people  seek  unto  their  God?" 
Yes,  the  man  who  knows  what  it  is  to  seek  God  in 
sincerity  and  truth  does  not  need  such  mockery. 
That  which  men  preach  as  a  new  and  better  faith 
the  prophet  condemns  as  unbelief  and  superstition. 
If  we  can  not  find  God  in  the  sunshine  and  the 
shower,  in  pure  worship  and  noble  fellowship,  in 
common  cares  and  high  duties,  how  shall  we  dis- 
cover him  in  dark  corners,  in  foolish  mummery 
and  fraudulent  tricks  ?  The  King  of  Righteousness 
is  a  God  of  light  who  speaks  to  the  mind  He  has 
created  and  the  conscience  He  has  quickened. 
Some  doubt  whether  the  particular  words  just 
quoted  come  from  Isaiah,  but  there  is  no  doubt 
that  they  represent  his  spirit.  The  man  who  could 
denounce  impure  worship  in  the  regular  temple 
would  have  still  less  sympathy  with  clandestine  at- 
tempts to  juggle  with  the  mysteries  of  the  spirit 


PROPHET'S  VIEW  OF  FAITH  77 

world.  And  in  our  own  time  we  should  remember 
that  such  superstition  is  not  excess  of  faith,  but 
really  want  of  faith.  Faith  lives  in  the  light  and 
does  not  need  to  nourish  itself  on  that  which  is 
dark,  morbid  and  unclean. 

(4)  The  man  of  faith  can  face  all  changes  calm- 
ly because  he  knows  that  nothing  shall  be  des- 
troyed that  is  worth  preserving.  This  is  Isaiah's 
strong  conviction  drawn  from  his  vision  of  the 
righteousness  of  God.  The  prophet  had  strong 
feelings,  he  knew  the  sweetness  of  rapturous  spirit- 
ual experience,  he  had  passed  through  the  agony  of 
conflict  and  entered  into  the  joy  of  victory.  But 
he  is  often  seen  standing  in  a  position  that  con- 
trasts strongly  with  that  taken  by  the  people.  They 
are  panic-stricken,  he  can  command  them  to  put 
away  their  fear  and  look  to  God  for  deliverance, 
(viii.)  When  they  are  carried  away  with  joy  at 
an  unexpected  deliverance,  a  deliverance  that  he 
had  prophesied,  he  warns  them  to  prepare  for  God's 
searching  judgments,  (xxii.)  In  both  cases  he  is 
working  from  the  same  principle,  what  he  calls  for 
is  a  deeper  life.  They  are  faint-hearted  in  the 
day  of  danger  because  they  fear  men  rather  than 
God ;  they  are  carried  away  by  shallow  excitement 
because  escape  from  the  foreign  foe  seems  to  be 
the  supreme  salvation.  His  strong  faith  keeps  him 
from'  being  carried  away  by  these  surface  currents, 
his  feet  are  on  the  solid  rock,  he  proves  that  the 
man  who  fears  God  sincerely  and  intelligently  need 
fear  nothing  else.  The  world  is  not  ruled  by  clever 
politicians  or  successful  soldiers,  there  is  a  God  of 
righteousness  who  takes   final     responsibility     on 


78      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

Himself,  hence  it  is  only  the  chaff  that  the  wind 
drives  away,  only  the  wood,  hay  and  stubble  that 
the  fire  consumes. 

(5)  Therefore  the  man  of  faith  must  also  be  to 
some  extent  the  prophet  of  hope.  Isaiah  did  not  toil 
for  forty  years  without  cherishing  great  hopes  for 
his  city.  Two  of  his  great  words,  "With  us 
is  God"  and  "A  remnant  shall  turn,"  have  in 
them  suggestions  of  hope  as  well  as  decla- 
rations of  judgment.  The  prophet's  great 
words  may  have  been  developed  and  differently 
applied  by  his  successors,  that  which  was  liv- 
ing and  plastic  may  have  become  hard  and 
dogmatic,  but  while  his  circumstances  were  always 
difficult  and  his  outlook  often  dark,  the  future  was 
not  altogether  without  hope.  The  early  prophets 
were  on  the  whole  messengers  of  judgment,  but  it 
is  scarcely  correct  to  call  them  "pessimists."  Their 
announcements  of  judgment  were  inspired  by  faith 
in  the  divine  righteousness,  or  in  modern  phrase,  the 
moral  order  of  the  world,  and  that  is  surely  not  a 
hopeless  conviction.  They  knew  that  true  religion 
could  not  be  destroyed,  and  if  religion  lives  and 
advances  to  higher  forms  hope  will  bloom  into  new 
loveliness.  To  them  this  world  is  the  scene  on 
which  the  eternal  justice  manifests  itself  and  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  revealed,  therefore  in  the 
darkest  hour  they  can  commend  their  work  to  God 
and  the  future  time.  A  sure  foundation  is  laid 
in  Zion,  even  this,  that  the  true  believer  does  not 
falter,  but  endures  as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible. 
The  poor  refuges  to  which  faithless  men  flee  in 
their  desperation  will  all  perish,  but  the  link  that 


PROPHET'S  VIEW  OF  FAITH         79 

binds  the  faithful  soul  to  God  will  stand  the  severest 
strain.  The  knowledge  of  God  may  be  enlarged, 
the  thought  of  Zion  transformed,  but  the  faith  of 
an  Isaiah  remains  the  living  principle  of  religion, 
the  spiritual  force  that  creates  the  true  abiding 
Church. 


THE  PROPHET  AS   STATESMAN 


"And  nevertheless  God  is  with  us.  In  this  Jerusalem,  in 
this  city  of  David,  in  this  sanctuary  of  the  old  religion, 
God  has  been  known,  righteousness  loved,  the  root  of  the 
matter  reached,  as  they  never  have  been  in  the  world  out- 
side. The  great  world  outside  has  nothing  so  indispensa- 
ble to  mankind,  no  germ  so  precious  to  mankind,  as  the 
'Valley  of  Vision'  has.  Therefore  'he  that  believeth  shall 
not  take  flight';  there  is  laid  by  the  Eternal  'in  Zion  for  a 
foundation  a  stone,  a  tried  stone,  a  precious  corner  stone, 
a  sure  foundation.'    God  is  with  us." — Matthew  Arnold. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  PROPHET  AS  STATESMAN 

( ISAIAH  VII.  22.) 

Isaiah  of  Jerusalem  was  by  his  loftiness  of  char- 
acter and  firmness  of  principle  utterly  unfitted  to 
be  a  popular  politician  of  the  baser  sort;  but  as  a 
statesman  who  cherished  a  noble  ideal  of  civic  and 
national  life,  and  who  saw  clearly  the  duty  of  the 
hour,  he  has  left  an  enduring  name.  He  shows  a 
remarkable  combination  of  spiritual  enthusiasm 
and  sanity  of  judgment,  pure  idealism  and  practical 
wisdom.  It  is  difficult  to  sketch  a  systematic 
biography  of  the  man,  or  to  give  a  full  account  of 
his  thoughts  concerning  the  future  destiny  of  his 
people ;  but  the  dominant  principles  of  his  life  stand 
out  clearly,  and  we  know  the  position  that  he  took 
in  the  great  political  crises.  He  is  a  striking  figure, 
an  aristocrat  who  met  on  equal  terms  with  kings 
and  courtiers,  yet  a  preacher  who  makes  with 
peculiar  emphasis  the  demand  for  humility  in  the 
presence  of  the  divine  King.  A  poet  who  can  sing 
to  attract  attention,  but  whose  song  will  surely 
turn  into  a  sermon  (v.).  An  oriental  orator  using 
strange  symbolism  to  impress  his  message  upon 
the  minds  of  the  thoughtless  people,  but  no  mere 
sensation    monger.      (xx.)      A    man    capable    of 

83 


84      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

standing  alone,  but  also  gifted  with  the  power  to 
draw  round  him  a  few  sympathetic  disciples  who 
are  the  providential  means  of  preserving  his  mes- 
sage and  carrying  on  his  work.  He  is  a  married 
man  and  has  two  sons  who  bear  strange  names ;  one 
of  these  speaks  of  judgment,  and  the  other  sug- 
gests mercy  (viii.  2,  vii.  3).  He  is  not  a  pale-faced 
ascetic  or  a  shrinking  sentimentalist,  but  a  strong, 
full-blooded  man,  who  will  seize  the  whole  of  life 
and  sanctify  it  in  the  name  of  Jehovah.  He  does 
not  despise  the  name  of  prophet ;  prophecy  to  him  is 
a  high  vocation.  If  the  name  has  fallen  into  dis- 
repute he  will  rescue  it  and  make  it  a  name  that 
men  must  respect.  He  is  a  man  of  high  mettle,  he 
finds  it  quite  consistent  with  true  lowliness  to  pour 
contempt  upon  a  weak  vacillating  king,  to  fling 
back  fiery  scorn  against  irreverent  mockers,  and  to 
denounce  falsehood  and  folly  in  words  that  burn 
and  blister  (vii,  xxviii).  His  characteristic  feature, 
to  sum  up  in  a  word,  is  strength,  the  strength  that 
comes  from  clearness  of  thought,  firmness  of  pur- 
pose and  well  balanced  passion. 

HIS    CONCEPTION    OF    THE    NATION. 

We  must  not  make  too  deep  the  distinction  be- 
tween poet,  preacher  and  statesman;  the  prophet 
himself  did  not  recognize  any  such  divisions.  It  is 
difficult  indeed  to  find  a  man  who  is  more  com>- 
pletely  one  by  virtue  of  loyalty  to  one  central,  vital 
principle,  a  man  whose  varied  activities  are  really 
aspects  of  the  one  life,  of  whom  we  may  justly  say 
that  one  spirit  runs  through  his  manifold  ministry. 
In  his  teaching  there  are  germs  of  truth  that  will 


PROPHET  AS  STATESMAN  85 

require  centuries  before  they  reach  full  maturity, 
but  for  the  present  he  has  a  clear,  straight  message 
for  the  city  and  the  nation.  What  is  the  nation  in 
his  view?  It  is  not  a  chance  conglomeration  of  in- 
dividuals, it  is  not  a  creation  of  cunning  politicians. 
It  is  a  thing  that  God  has  made,  on  which  He  has 
spent  loving  toil  and  care,  and  from  which  He  ex- 
pects fruit  noble  and  beautiful.  The  union  of  privi- 
lege and  responsibility  is  a  cardinal  principle  with 
this  great  preacher;  on  such  a  soil  as  this,  shallow 
irresponsible  patriotism  or  narrow  religious  bigotry 
cannot  grow. 

"A  vineyard  belongs  to  my  friend, 

On  a  hill  that  is  fruitful  and  sunny; 

He  digged  it  and  cleared  it  of  stones, 

And  planted  there  vines  that  are  choice; 

A  tower  he  built  in  the  midst, 

And  hewed  also  therein  a  wine-vat, 

And  he  looked  to  find  grapes  that  are  good; 

Alas,  it  bore  grapes  that  are  wild."* 

THE  CIVIC  REFORMER. 

Here  is  a  principle  that  needed  to  be  thoroughly 
worked  out  in  relation  to  one  nation  that  it  might 
become  the  common  property  of  humanity.  How 
much  of  faith  and  hope  as  well  as  of  pain  and  dis- 
appointment is  concentrated  in  the  sharp  utterance, 
"He  looked  for  judgment  but  behold  oppression; 
for  righteousness  but  behold  a  cry."  (v:  7.)  All 
else  is  implied  in  this,  here  is  high  opportunity  and 


"v.  1-2,  Dr.  Cheyne's  Translation. 


86      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

reluctant  judgment.  If  this  is  commonplace  truth, 
it  is  also  fundamental,  and  in  our  prophet  it  finds 
fresh,  varied,  unconventional  expression. 

We  are  in  our  own  time  confronted  with  a  great 
problem,  namely,  to  make  the  complex  life  of  the 
great  city  a  new  embodiment  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.  This  problem  meets  us  now  on  a  much  larger 
scale,  but  in  principle  it  is  the  same,  it  must  be 
faced  with  the  same  unfaltering  faith.  We  cannot 
return  to  rural  simplicity,  or  find  refuge  in  a  rude 
puritanism;  religion  must  again  conquer  and  con- 
secrate science,  art  and  politics.  Isaiah  was  a  man 
of  the  city,  he  could  satirize  the  ridiculous  vanity 
and  aping  of  foreign  fashions  displayed  there,  but 
these  are  only  the  fringe  of  his  great  theme.  He 
loved  the  city,  all  his  interests  and  hopes  were  cen- 
tered in  it;  he  longed  that  Jerusalem  might  become 
the  home  of  righteousness,  the  abode  of  peace. 
Love  can  strike  the  mightiest  blows ;  no  cynical 
criticism,  no  scornful  satire  can  have  such  power  in 
it  as  the  lament  of  love. 
"How  has  the  faithful  city  become  a  harlot ! 
Zion  filled  with  judgment,  righteousness  lodged  in 

her! 
Thy  silver  has  become  dross,  thy  drink  adulterated ; 
Thy  princes  are   rebellious   and     companions     of 

thieves ; 
They  all  love  bribes  and  seek  after  rewards ; 
The  widow's  cause  comes  not  to  them,  the  father- 
less they  do  not  judge. 
Therefore  saith  Jehovah,  the  Mighty  One  of  Israel, 
Ah,  let  me  ease  me  of  mine  adversaries,  and  avenge 
me  of  my  foes, 


PROPHET  AS  STATESMAN  87 

And  I  will  turn  my  hand  against  thee,  and  purify 
thee  with  lye; 

Thy  dross  will  I  remove,  all  thine  alloy, 

And  I  will  restore  thy  judges  as  at  the  first,  and 
thy  counsellors  as  at  the  beginning; 

Afterwards  thou  shalt  be  called  Town  of  Right- 
eousness, Faithful  City." 

This  is  not  the  utterance  of  cynical  disappoint- 
ment or  fierce  fanaticism,  it  is  the  sober  application 
of  a  high  ideal  to  a  low  state  of  civic  life.  There 
had  been  a  wave  of  prosperity,  and  with  it  came 
many  "improvements/'  the  ordinary  councillor  could 
speak  glibly  complacent  congratulations  on  the 
rapid  march  of  progress,  but  the  prophet  sees  that 
palace  and  temple,  council  chamber  and  judgment 
hall  are  full  of  unrighteousness.  The  preacher 
seeks  to  quicken  the  conscience  of  the  community. 
He  would  not  stifle  innocent  joy  or  stimulate  a 
false  solemnity,  what  he  demands  is  honesty  in  the 
presence  of  God,  and  fairness  between  man  and 
man.  He  is  not  a  popularizer  of  small  fads,  but  a 
preacher  of  justice  in  the  largest  sense.  God  is  on 
the  side  of  righteousness,  He  demands  from  the 
rulers  of  the  city  real  service;  He  is  not  like 
themselves,  easy  to  bribe  with  large  gifts.  He  hates 
the  sacrifice  that  is  purchased  out  of  the  plunder 
gained  by  grinding  the  faces  of  the  poor.  The  su- 
preme thing  in  the  city  is  not  the  outward  form  of 
government  or  the  display  of  material  splendour,  but 
the  character  of  the  citizen,  the  moral  life  in  street 
and  market,  church  and  home. 


88      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

TWO  PERIODS,  ONE  POLICY. 

Isaiah  had  something  to  say  on  the  question  of 
foreign  politics,  he  was  not  prepared  to  accept  the 
view  evidently  cherished  by  Ahaz,  that  this  region 
lies  outside  the  range  of  religion.  It  is  a  doctrine 
popular  with  a  certain  class  of  politicians  that  a 
small  amount  of  religious  sentiment  may  safely  be 
introduced  into  politics  strictly  for  home  consump- 
tion, but  that  in  foreign  relationships  such  consid- 
erations are  out  of  place  and  highly  dangerous. 
Ahaz  did  not  wish  any  sign  from  heaven  in  that 
department  of  his  affairs ;  he  thought  that  he  could 
manage  very  cleverly  on  the  line  of  worldly  policy ; 
perhaps  he  had  made  his  choice  and  committed 
himself  before  Isaiah  appeared  on  the  scene.  The 
prophet  does  not  wish  to  be  very  troublesome,  but 
he  has  a  principle  which  he  believes  to  be  applicable 
to  all  these  affairs,  and  upon  the  clear  and  full 
recognition  of  it  depends  the  life  of  this  nation. 
Hence  we  see  the  political  event  and  the  prophet's 
call  placed  side  by  side. 

"And  it  was  told  the  house  of  David,  saying, 
Syria  is  confederate  with  Ephraim.  And  his  heart 
was  moved,  and  the  heart  of  his  people,  as  the  trees 
of  the  wood  are  moved  with  the  wind." 

"Then  said  the  Lord  unto  Isaiah,  Go  forth  now 
to  meet  Ahaz,  thou  and  Shear-jashub*,  thy  son,  at 
the  end  of  the  conduit  of  the  upper  pool  in  the  high- 
way of  the  fuller's  field,  and  say  unto  him : 


*A  remnant  shall  turn. 


PROPHET  AS  STATESMAN  89 

"Take  heed  and  be  quiet, 

Fear  not,  neither  be  faint-hearted, 

For  the  two  tails  of  these  smoking  firebrands, 

For  the  fierce  anger  of  Rezin  with  Syria, 

And  of  the  son  of  Remaliah."  (vii.  2-4.) 

This  is  a  prophecy  of  comfort  if  men  have  faith 
to  receive  it,  but  the  same  principle  lies  behind  the 
comfortable  words  of  a  true  prophet  and  his  words 
of  condemnation;  what  is  demanded  in  both  cases 
is  recognition  of  God's  purpose,  trust  in  His  power 
and  acceptance  of  His  righteousness.  This  is  cer- 
tainly a  critical  situation  when  the  Israelites  and 
the  Aramaeans,  the  brother  and  the  cousin,  conspire 
against  the  small  kingdom  of  Judah.  What  is  to 
be  done  when  princes  are  trembling  and  the  people 
full  of  fear?  In  such  an  hour  the  man  who  waits 
upon  God  knows  that  there  is  help  and  guidance 
from  a  higher  sphere.  He  is  laid  hold  of  powerfully 
and  taught  that  he  must  not  be  carried  away  by 
the  cry  that  prevails  in  the  street,  but  must  wrestle 
mightily  with  those  who  are  fearful  of  the  outside 
foe  and  have  no  reverence  for  the  righteous  God 
who  dwells  in  Zion.  Jehovah  guides  the  course  of 
history,  princes  and  politicians  are  mere  pawns  in 
His  hand;  is  it  not  folly  then  to  tremble  at  those 
who  can  do  so  little?  (viii.  1 1-15.)  The  king  of 
Judah  has  decided  what  he  will  do, — he  will  call  in 
the  aid  of  the  great  Assyrian  Empire  which  is  just 
coming  into  contact  with  the  Palestinian  powers; 
in  that  way  he  will  checkmate  the  conspiracy  of  his 
two  nearer  neighbors.  (II.  Kings  xvi.)  We  can 
now  see  clearly  that  this  was  the  height  of  folly. 


90      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

The  Assyrians  will  be  knocking  at  the  gates  of  Jeru- 
salem soon  enough.  It  meant  paying  the  king  of 
Assyria  to  do  what  he  meant  to  clo  in  any  case, 
namely,  attack  Aram;  it  meant  Judah  assuming 
voluntarily  the  position  of  a  vassal  to  a  great  alien 
power;  it  meant  foreign  influence  on  Jewish  social 
and  religious  life;  in  other  words,  it  meant  sur- 
rendering everything  in  an  hour  of  weakness  and 
faithlessness.  To  the  prophet  it  was  apostasy  from 
pure  religion  and  treason  against  heaven's  King. 
Jehovah  has  chosen  Judah  and  will  accomplish  His 
purpose  through  her ;  let  her  stand  on  the  defensive, 
trust  in  Him  and  bide  her  time.  In  this  case  loy- 
alty to  the  ideal  did  not  mean  the  unpractical  thing, 
it  never  does  if  we  understand  it  rightly ;  if  we  had 
more  real  faith  there  would  be  less  need  for  un- 
worthy compromise.  The  great  word  EMMAN- 
UEL meant  to  the  prophet  "With  us  is  God,"  and 
not  simply  God  will  some  day  be  with  men  in  a 
nobler  form.  Because  of  the  lofty  faith  that  is  ex- 
pressed it  was  capable  of  gathering  around  it  the 
most  sacred  associations  and  becoming  a  prophecy 
of  the  highest.  If  on  that  memorable  day  king  and 
people  could  have  risen  to  the  level  of  Isaiah  they 
would  not  have  played  the  traitor  to  the  God  of 
their  fathers,  to  themselves  and  to  their  children; 
knowing  that  God  was  with  them,  they  would  have 
kept  free  from  an  alliance  which  was  in  its  nature 
disgraceful  and  which  from  any  point  of  view  was 
not  worth  what  it  cost,  and  they  would  have  been 
saved  from  such  shameful  disaster. 

But  if  such  an  alliance  is  wrong  and  harmful,  will 
not  the  prophet  help  them  to  get  rid  of  it  later  on  ? 


PROPHET  AS  STATESMAN  91 

Certainly  not.  Men  must  be  faithful  in  something; 
if  they  will  not  be  faithful  to  God  they  must  surely 
keep  their  own  bargains.  In  the  days  of  the  next 
king  Hezekiah,  when  Aram  and  Israel  had  been 
conquered  and  the  Assyrian  came  unpleasantly  near, 
an  Egyptian  alliance  was  popular.  In  the  prophet's 
opinion  it  was  wicked  to  enter  into  any  alliance, 
but  to  break  away  from  obligations  that  the  nation 
had  contracted  was  a  still  greater  degree  of  wicked- 
ness. Over  thirty  years  have  passed  away,  Judah 
has  reaped  the  results  of  the  disastrous  policy 
against  which  the  prophet  had  fought  so  fiercely; 
Hezekiah  has  made  some  attempts  at  religious  re- 
formation, and  the  life  of  the  small  state  of  Judah 
has  been  saved  from  complete  confusion.  But  the 
battle  was  hard  and  it  is  no  injustice  to  the  un- 
known few  to  say  that  the  one  faithful  life,  the  one 
steady  light,  was  that  of  Isaiah.  This  is  what  he 
thinks  of  an  Egyptian  alliance: 

"Woe  to  the  rebellious  children,  saith  Jehovah, 

That  take  counsel,  but  not  of  me ; 

And  that  cover  with  a  covering,  but  not  of  my 
spirit, 

That  they  may  add  sin  to  sin  : 

That  walk  to  go  down  into  Egypt, 

And  have  not  asked  at  my  mouth, 

To  strengthen  themselves  in  the  strength  of 
Pharaoh, 

And  to  trust  in  the  shadow  of  Egypt ! 

Therefore  shall  the  strength  of  Pharaoh  be  your 
shame, 

And  the  trust  in  the  shadow  of  Egypt  your  con- 
fusion." (xxx.  1-3.) 


92      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

"For  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  the  Holy  One  of 

Israel, 
In  returning  and  rest  shall  ye  be  saved ; 
In  quietness  and  confidence  shall  be  your  strength; 
And  ye  would  not,  but  ye  said  No ! 
For  we  will  flee  upon  horses,  therefore  shall  ye  flee ; 
And  on  the  swift  will  we  ride,  therefore  shall  your 

pursuers  be  swift."  (xxx.  15.) 

The  politicians  and  diplomats  of  that  time  prided 
themselves  upon  their  accurate  measurement  of 
worldly  forces,  but  they  left  God  out  of  account. 
Isaiah  maintains  that  because  Jehovah  is  the  real 
King  of  the  world,  righteousness  and  morality  are 
the  greatest  forces;  the  kingdom  that  rests  simply 
on  greed  and  violence  cannot  endure,  because  it 
violates  the  fundamental  law  of  life,  and  insults 
the  majesty  of  God.  With  him  faith  is  not 
a  substitute  for  action,  nor  religion  a  senti- 
mental luxury;  he  works  always  from  the  one 
central  principle  which  is  the  essence  of  religion  and 
the  inspiration  of  noble  conduct;  it  is  the  recogni- 
tion of  God's  justice  in  such  a  manner  as  to  bring 
it  to  bear  on  all  the  relationships  of  life.  His  ef- 
forts to  enforce  this  principle  in  national  affairs 
involved  a  severe  continuous  struggle.  He  was 
charged  with  wearisome  repetition  of  his  common- 
place morality,  as  if  it  were  any  valid  objection  to 
a  great  lesson  that  we  have  heard  it  before.  The 
prophet  is  driven  to  reply  that  those  who  reject  this 
teaching  in  simple  homely  garb  will  have  to  look 
upon  it  in  the  sufficiently  sensational  dress  of  a 
foreign  conqueror.  If  we  find  common  ministries 
to  be  tame  and  meaningless  we  may  force  God  to  his 


PROPHET  AS  STATESMAN  93 

"strange  work"  of  judgment ;  in  that  dread  hour 
our  cleverness  will  shrink  to  its  real  smallness, 
even  in  our  own  sight.  Thus  would  he  reply  to  friv- 
olous chatter,  and  he  found  as  little  satisfaction  in 
the  shallow  congratulations  that  fluttered  around 
him  in  his  brief  hours  of  success ;  but  such  a  stren- 
uous life  for  forty  years  is  not  lived  without  satis- 
faction of  the  noblest  kind,  the  sense  of  duty  well 
performed  and  the  sympathy  of  a  few  discerning 
spirits.  Even  his  brightest  vision  could  never  pic- 
ture the  full  significance  of  the  service  that  he  had 
rendered  to  mankind  in  maintaining  that  the  true 
strength  of  a  nation  lies  in  its  faithfulness  to  right- 
eousness, its  loyalty  to  a  God-given  vocation. 

In  his  ministry  we  find  also  the  beginnings  of  the 
church  as  distinct  from  the  state.  The  word  "disciple" 
occurs  on  almost  every  page  of  the  New  Testament 
record,  but  in  the  early  Hebrew  literature  it  is  very 
rare.  The  word  is,  according  to  our  present  text, 
used  once  by  Isaiah,  but  we  know  that  the  living 
reality  must  have  played  a  great  part  in  his  fruitful 
ministry.  Of  course  the  thing  is  old  enough.  Moses  in 
the  earliest  days  must  have  had  disciples,  men  who 
sympathized  with  his  aims  and  were  touched  by  his 
spirit,  and  who  were  eager  to  preserve  the  good 
tradition.  But  here  it  attains  a  clearness,  a  distinc- 
tion and  spirituality  that  is  never  again  completely 
lost,  (viii:  16-18,  xxx:  8-1 1.)  Such  prophecy  could 
not  be  learned  as  an  art  or  practised  as  a  trade,  but 
truth  could  be  taught  and  the  intelligent  spirit  of  re- 
ligion kept  alive.  Isaiah  did  not  desire  a  party  in 
the  narrow  sense  of  that  word,  he  knew  too  well 
how  easily  men  take  a  fragment  of  the  truth  and 


94      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

transform  it  into  a  fetich,  to  worship  it  in  a  mechan- 
ical fashion.  It  would  have  caused  him  still  deeper 
pain  if  he  could  have  seen  how  some  of  his  noblest 
sayings  would  be  turned  to  false  dogmatic  uses. 
Neither  did  he  conceive  of  the  church  as  separate 
from  the  nation;  his  ideal  was  to  have  commerce 
so  clean,  worship  so  pure,  and  politics  so  honest 
that  it  would  all  be  a  real  service  to  God.  But  the 
effect  of  his  teaching  was  to  create  a  body  of  dis- 
ciples and  to  stimulate  thought  along  the  lines  of 
what  we  call  religious  truth.  One  grand  result 
traceable  to  him  and  men  of  like  spirit  was  that 
when  the  catastrophe  came  that  destroyed  the  nation 
there  was  something  that  could  not  perish,  a  life 
that  would  create  new  forms  for  itself.  In  this  he 
prepared  the  way  for  One  who  built  His  church 
upon  the  same  rock  of  faithfulness  and  declared 
that  the  gates  of  hell  would  not  prevail  against  it.  If 
in  these  latest  ages  we  combine  the  intelligent  zeal 
of  Isaiah  with  the  gentle  spirit  of  Jesus,  we  shall 
fight  the  necessary  battle  for  righeousness  in  every 
sphere  of  life  and  refuse  to  acknowledge  that  there 
is  any  region  of  man's  knowledge  or  activity  where 
the  presence  of  the  King  cannot  be  felt  and  obeyed. 
Thus  among  the  most  influential  of  the  forerunners 
of  our  Lord  in  the  Hebrew  nation  we  place  Isaiah 
of  Jerusalem,  poet  and  preacher,  reformer  and 
statesman. 


PROPHETIC   FELLOWSHIP;   OR   UNITY 
AND  INDIVIDUALITY 


"It  follows  that  in  the  narrower  sense  of  the  word  the 
age  of  saints  is  not  past.  There  has  never  been  a  time 
when  the  Gospel  has  not  vindicated  its  sovereignty  and 
Christ  has  not  found  His  living  interpreters.  We  have  not 
as  yet  been  taught  to  give  an  open  place  in  our  public 
services  to  the  latest  heroes  of  faith,  but  I  trust  neverthe- 
less they  are  not  forgotten.  I  trust  that  we  call  up  in 
grateful  memory  saints  whom  we  have  known — the  glory 
of  their  devoted  service  to  give  distinctness  to  thanks- 
giving and  hymns.  There  is  not  one  among  us  whose 
study  and  whose  experience  may  not  bring  some  dear 
companion,  whom  he  has  learnt  to  recognize  in  the  silent 
converse  of  books,  or  in  the  stirring  conflicts  of  duty, 
to  swell  'the  glorious  company  of  the  Apostles'  and  'the 
goodly  friendship  of  the  prophets'  and  'the  noble  army  of 
martyrs,'  men  who  in  these  later  days  and  in  our  own 
church  have  heard  a  call  from  God  and  interpreted  it, 
men  who  have  received  a  burden  at  the  hands  of  God  and 
in  trust  on  Him  have  borne  it,  saints  who  have  not  been 
reckoned  in  any  calendar." — The  Late  Bishop  B.  F.  West- 
cott,  "Social  Aspects  of  Christianity,"  page  157. 


CHAPTER.  VIII 

PROPHETIC   FELLOWSHIP;   OR   UNITY 
AND   INDIVIDUALITY 

Amos,  Hosea,  Isaiah,  Micah — these  four  names 
stand  out  boldly  in  the  history  of  Hebrew  religion 
in  what  is  called  the  Assyrian  period ;  their  pro- 
phetic activity  falls  within  the  last  fifty  or  sixty 
years  of  the  eighth  century  b.  c.  Seen  from  this 
distance  of  time  they  are  the  true  heroes,  the  real 
immortals  of  that  age.  Priests,  princes,  politicians, 
are  all  thrown  into  the  shade  by  these  four  great 
preachers.  There  were  other  men  of  clear  purpose 
and  earnest  endeavour  after  a  nobler  life,  but  these 
four  were  the  real  leaders  of  a  higher  movement 
in  the  sphere  of  religious  thought.  We  are  thankful 
for  the  nameless  saints  who  gave  their  lives  for  the 
truth  though  they  have  left  no  visible  memorial,  but 
we  are  still  more  thankful  that  from  such  a  time 
of  darkness  and  disaster  some  splendid  fragments 
remain  to  show  the  quality  of  thought  and  style  of 
speech  that  came  from  those  men  who  fought  the 
stern  battle  of  truth  and  righteousness.  We  cannot 
be  sure  that  any  one  of  these  men  was  acquainted 
with  any  other;  indeed  the  probabilities  point  the 
other  way,  and  at  any  rate  there  is  no  record  of 
such    personal     intercourse.      The  higher     move- 

97 


98      PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

merit  of  thought  which  owes  so  much  to 
their  influence  was  not  an  organized  effort  or 
party  enterprise.  These  men  stood  very  much 
alone,  their  message  was  despised  or  neg- 
lected, but  from  men  of  such  mighty  faith 
and  strong  personal  influence  there  went  forth  a 
quickening  power  which  did  not  altogether  fail  in 
its  mission.  We  know  that  one  of  them  had  "disci- 
ples," and  it  is  likely  that  the  others  also  found  a 
few  sympathetic  hearers  and  congenial  companions. 
Spiritual  influences  do  not  any  more  than  natural 
energy  travel  through  a  perfect  vacuum ;  the  great 
creative  thinkers  are  few,  but  smaller  men  who  have 
the  power  to  receive  and  retain  new  forms  of  truth 
may  also  play  an  important  part. 

Even  if  these  four  men  had  no  actual  personal 
intercourse  we  can  think  and  speak  of  them  as 
forming  a  spiritual  company,  a  prophetic  fellowship. 
They  belong  to  the  same  age,  they  face  the  same 
problems  and  meet  the  same  difficulties.  They  live 
under  the  same  political  conditions,  their  circum- 
stances are  in  many  respects  similar,  they  all  look 
to  the  great  Assyrian  power  as  the  instrument  of 
those  judgments  which  manifest  the  righteousness 
of  God.  In  other  words  they  have  the  same  back- 
ground of  history  and  breathe  the  same  spiritual 
atmosphere.  Yet  each  of  them  has  a  strongly 
marked  individuality;  no  one  of  them  is  a  mere 
imitator;  each  man  is  himself  and  not  to  be  con- 
founded with  any  other ;  intense  faithfulness  to  the 
same  great  principles  issues  in  peculiarity  of 
thought  and  distinction  of  character.  They  all  pro- 
claim the  righteousness  of  God  and  the  spirituality 


PROPHETIC  FELLOWSHIP  99 

of  religion,  but  each  with  his  own  tone,  accent  and 
emphasis.  These  great  original  preachers  are  all 
impelled  by  clear  intelligence  and  passionate  feeling, 
but  the  sternness  of  Amos  differs  from  that  of 
Isaiah,  and  the  intense  emotion  of  Hosea  is  unlike 
Micah's  fierce  passion.  One  has  breadth,  another 
intensity;  one  moves  us  by  the  fiery  outburst  of 
mingled  pity  and  indignation,  the  other  by  the  power 
of  clear,  consistent,  concentrated  thought. 

COMMON  FEATURES. 

All  these  men  look  upon  impurity  of  worship  and 
unrighteousness  of  conduct  as  wicked  and  foolish 
rebellion  against  a  God  who  has  been  generous  in 
his  gifts  and  gracious  in  his  guidance: 

"Also  I  brought  you  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 

And  led  you  forty  years  in  the  wilderness, 

To  possess  the  land  of  the  Amorite, 

And  I  raised  up  of  your  sons  for  prophets, 

And  of  your  young  men  for  Nazirites ; 

Is  it  not  even  thus,  O  ye  children  of  Israel  ?" 

(Amos  ii.  10,  n.) 

"When  Israel  was  young  then  I  loved  him, 
And  called  my  son  out  of  Egypt." 
"I  did  know  thee  in  the  wilderness, 
In  the  land  of  great  drought." 

(Hosea  xi.  1 ;  xiii.  5.) 

"Hear,  O  heavens,  and  give  ear,  O  earth,  for 
Jehovah  hath  spoken.  Sons  have  I  made  great  and 
exalted  and  they  have  been  untrue  to  me." 

(Isaiah  i.  2.) 


ioo    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

In  Micah  also  the  unfaithfulness  is  clearly  and 
strongly  stated,  even  if  the  privileges  and  blessings 
are  not  set  forward  so  prominently.  The  peasant 
prophet,  as  is  natural,  confines  himself  to  the  sad 
facts  of  corruption  and  disorder  among  his  own 
people;  he  does  not  reveal  such  a  wide  outlook  of 
politics  or  large  background  of  history. 

All  the  four  prophets  complain  bitterly  that  true 
teaching,  faithful  ministry  is  treated  with  coarse 
contempt. 

"But  ye  gave  the  Nazirites  wine  to  drink 
And  commanded  the  prophets,  saying, 
Prophesy  not." 

(Amos  ii.  12.) 

"Though  I  wrote  for  him  my  law  in  myriad  forms 
They  are  counted  as  a  strange  thing." 

(Hosea  viii.  12.) 

"For  it  is  a  rebellious  people; 

They  are  lying  sons 

Who  will  not  hear  the  teachings  of  Jehovah." 

(Isaiah  xxx.  9.) 

"If  a  man  walking  in  wind  and  falsehood  deals  in 

lies, 
I  will  prophesy  unto  thee  of  wine  and  strong  drink ; 
Even  he  shall  be  the  prophet  of  this  people." 

(Micah  ii.  11.) 

In  these  prophecies  we  find  the  strongest  denun- 
ciations of  greed  and  injustice;  and  in  these  strong 
words  there  is  a  threefold  revelation.  First  of  social 
disorder  resulting  from  increasing  division  between 
class  and  class ;  second,  of  the  prophet's  strong  pas- 


PROPHETIC  FELLOWSHIP  101 

sion  for  justice  ;  and  third,  of  his  intense  pity  for  the 
poor.  These  elements  may  be  differently  balanced 
in  the  individual  prophets. 

"Ye  that  afflict  the  just,  that  take  a  bribe 
And  turn  aside  the  needy  in  the  gate." 

(Amos  v.  12.) 

"There  is  nought  but  perjury  and  lying, 
Killing  and  stealing  and  committing  adultery ; 
They  commit  acts  of  violence, 
They  heap  murder  on  murder." 

(Hosea  iv.  2.) 

"Woe  to  those  who  join  house  to  house, 
Who  lay  field  to  field 
Until  no  room  is  left 

And  ye  dwell  alone  in  the  midst  of  the  land." 

(Isaiah  v.  8.) 

"Woe  to  those  who  devise  iniquity 
And  execute  evil  upon  their  beds ; 
In  the  morning  light  they  practise  it 
Because  it  is  in  the  power  of  their  hands; 
They  covet  fields  and  seize  them, 
And  houses  and  take  them  away ; 
They  oppress  a  man  and  his  house, 
Even  a  man  and  his  heritage." 

(Micah  ii.  1,  2.) 

It  is  evident  that  we  have  here  the  common  char- 
acter of  pre-exilic  prophecy  in  which  condemna- 
tion rather  than  consolation  was  the  dominant  note. 
This  is  further  confirmed  when  we  observe  the  atti- 
tude of  these  teachers  to  the  public  worship  of  their 
time.     Micah  in  his  prophecy  against  Samaria  has 


102    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

one  short,  scathing  allusion  to  "her  graven  images" ; 
and  the  following  fierce  attack  on  Zion  should  be 
carefully  compared  with  Isaiah's  song  of  the  city : 

"Her  chiefs  judge  for  reward 

And  her  priests  teach  for  hire; 

Her  prophets  divine  for  money, 

Yet  they  will  lean  upon  Jehovah  and  say, 

Is  not  Jehovah  in  the  midst  of  us? 

No  evil  shall  come  upon  us !" 

(Micah  iii.  n;  cf.  Isa.  i.  21-26.) 

Isaiah  distinctly  repudiates  in  the  name  of  Jehovah 
the  gorgeous  ceremonial  which  the  Jerusalem  wor- 
shippers offer  as  a  substitute  for  righteousness  of 
daily  life.  "Your  new  moons  and  your  appointed 
feasts  my  soul  loathes ;  they  are  a  trouble  unto  me ; 
I  am  weary  to  bear  them."  Of  the  two  earlier 
prophets  it  is  not  necessary  to  speak  in  this  connec- 
tion, as  their  preaching  is  a  powerful  polemic  against 
an  impure  sensual  worship  offered  at  the  various 
sanctuaries  in  Northern  Israel.  This  characteristic 
passage  from  Amos  should  also  be  compared  with 
the  stern  sermon  delivered  by  Isaiah  to  the  wor- 
shippers at  Jerusalem  : 

"I  hate,  I  despise  your  feasts ; 

I  will  take  no  delight  in  your  solemn  assemblies." 

"But  let  judgment  roll  down  as  waters, 

And  righteousness  as  a  mighty  stream." 

(Amos  v.  21-24.) 

Hosea  in  his  own  way  reiterates  the  same  great 
truth,  that  obedience  is  better  than  sacrifice,  "and 
the  knowledge  of  God  more  than  burnt  offerings." 


PROPHETIC  FELLOWSHIP  103 

Neither  shall  their  sacrifices  be  pleasing  unto  Him ; 
Their  bread  shall  be  unto  them  as  the  bread  of 

mourners, 
For  their  bread  shall  be  only  for  their  hunger ; 
It  shall  not  come  into  the  house  of  Jehovah. 
What  will  ye  do  in  the  day  of  solemn  assembly, 
And  in  the  day  of  the  feast  of  Jehovah?" 

(Hosea  ix.  4,  5.) 

DISTINCTIVE  CHARACTER. 

A  careful  student  may  note  individuality  of  tone 
and  temper  even  when  the  same  theme  is  handled. 
The  points  of  contact  do  not  by  any  means  furnish 
us  with  cases  of  mere  mechanical  repetition.  But 
each  prophet  has  also  his  own  special  message,  and 
no  one  name  can  do  justice  to  this  particular  feature. 
Names,  however,  are  helpful  if  we  remember  the 
limitation  under  which  they  are  used. 

THE    PROPHET    OF    MORALITY. 

The  prophets  did  not  separate  morality  from  re- 
ligion ;  in  fact  their  whole  ministry  was  a  protest 
against  such  separation,  and  they  rendered  an  eter- 
nal service  by  insisting  that  religion  must  manifest 
itself  in  all  the  relations  of  private  and  social  life. 
Hence,  while  it  would  be  unjust  to  class  as  "a  mere 
moralist"  a  man  who  claims  so  distinctly  to  have 
an  original  message  from  God,  there  is  a  real  sense 
in  which  Amos  may  be  called  the  prophet  of  moral- 
ity. He  marks  a  new  epoch  in  the  ethical  teaching 
of  the  Hebrew  religion.  Read  his  wide  survey  in 
the  first  chapter  and  see  how  such  strong  moral 


104    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

teaching  breaks  down  national  and  sectarian  bar- 
riers. It  is  through  this  teaching,  practically  ap- 
plied to  social  and  political  life,  that  the  religion  of 
Israel  is  to  become  conscious  of  its  large  significance 
and  world-wide  mission.  Note  how  he  takes  such 
popular  phrases  as  "the  day  of  Jehovah"  and  "Jeho- 
vah of  hosts"  and  sanctifies  them  for  future  serv- 
ice by  cleansing  them  from  base,  selfish  associations 
and  making  them  the  medium  of  his  own  nobler 
teaching.  We  cannot  claim  for  Amos  subtlety  of 
thought  or  tenderness  of  feeling,  but  he  loyally 
placed  at  the  service  of  his  God  a  largeness  of  view, 
a  breadth  of  sympathy,  a  stern  passion  for  righteous- 
ness. That  is  a  noble  contribution  for  one  man  in 
any  age.  If  Amos  had  been  complete  there  would 
have  been  no  need  for  any  other ;  what  he  was  com- 
missioned to  give  was  partial,  but  it  was  of  the 
highest  value.  The  man  who  in  a  time  of  low  ideals 
and  coarse  sensual  religion  could  say — 

"You  only  have  I  known  of  all  the  families  of  the 

earth, 
Therefore  will  I  visit  upon  you  all  your  iniquities," 
that  man  gave  religion  the  supreme  place,  and  pre- 
pared the  way  for  those  who  should  explain  more 
fully  the  connection  between  election  and  service.* 

THE  PROPHET  OF  LOVE. 

The  book  of  Hosea  is  difficult  from  the  point  of 
view  of  continuous  reading  and  minute  interpreta- 
tion, but  the  general  impression  is  clear,  and  as  we 
glance  over  it  we  have  a  feeling  of  familiarity  be- 


*See  Chapter  XXL 


PROPHETIC  FELLOWSHIP  105 

cause  of  the  fact  that  so  many  of  these  fragments 
have  entered  into  common  religious  speech.  For 
example :  "I  will  have  mercy  and  not  sacrifice." 
"Come,  let  us  to  the  Lord  return."  "Your  goodness 
is  as  a  morning  cloud,  and  as  the  dew  that  goeth 
early  away."  "For  they  sow  the  wind,  and  they 
shall  reap  the  whirlwind."  "Gray  hairs  are  here 
and  there  upon  him,  and  he  knoweth  it  not."  "Eph- 
raim  is  a  cake  not  turned,"  etc.  Though  it  may  be 
difficult  to  explain  the  details  of  this  prophecy,  we 
can  easily  form  a  distinct  conception  of  Hosea  as  a 
man  of  intense  feeling  and  a  prophet  of  love.  He  is 
tender  and  emotional ;  he  has  passed  through  sad 
domestic  experiences;  the  facts  of  his  life  and  the 
peculiarities  of  his  temperament  influence  the  in- 
tellectual forms  of  his  message.  His  treatment  of 
Israel's  unfaithfulness  is  very  different  from  that 
of  Amos.  Israel  is  the  unfaithful  bride  of  Jehovah 
and  all  her  pretentious  impure  worship  is  so  much 
harlotry,  a  powerful  figure  that  is  much  used  by 
later  prophets.  Hosea  has  his  own  interpretation 
of  history;  he  looks  upon  the  schism  as  a  sin,  and 
declares  that  God  will  avenge  "the  blood  of  Jezreel." 
Like  Isaiah  he  uses  symbolic  names  which  speak  of 
mercy  and  judgment.  And  if  he  does  not  give  us 
detailed  pictures  of  future  blessedness,  he  knows 
how  as  a  poet  and  preacher  to  mingle  light  and 
shade.  This  is  not  conscious  art,  but  the  actual  re- 
flection of  his  own  changing  moods  and  alternating 
hopes  and  fears. 

"I  will  heal  their  backsliding, 

I  will  love  them  freely, 

I  will  be  as  the  dew  unto  Israel : 


106    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

He  shall  blossom  as  the  lily, 

And  cast  forth  his  roots  as  Lebanon." 

(xiv.  4,  5.) 

Other  prophets  teach  us  that  judgment  is  Jeho- 
vah's "strange  work,"  but  here  we  find  this  truth 
expressed  in  the  tender  tones  of  love,  and  with  a 
compassion  that  is  prophetic  of  the  gentleness  of 
Christ : 

"How  shall  I  give  thee  up,  O  Ephraim  ? 
How  shall  I  deliver  thee,  Israel? 
How  shall  I  make  thee  as  Admah  ? 
How  shall  I  set  thee  as  Zeboim? 
Mine  heart  is  turned  within  me, 
My  compassions  are  kindled  together."     (xi.8.) 

It  is  significant  and  suggestive  that  when  the 
prophet  expresses  most  strongly  the  pitiful  tender- 
ness with  which  Jehovah  stoops  over  the  people 
whom  He  is  compelled  to  punish,  that  He  can  add 
as  a  reason  both  for  the  mercy  and  the  judgment: 
"For  I  am  God  and  not  man, 
The  Holy  One  in  the  midst  of  thee." 

(xi.  8,  9.) 

THE   PROPHET   OF   THE    POOR. 

In  the  original  prophecy  of  Micah  (i-iii)  there 
is  neither  the  breadth  of  Amos,  the  intensity  and 
variety  of  Hosea  nor  the  splendour  of  Isaiah;  after 
the  noble  opening  there  is  a  certain  plainness  and 
grimness.  Micah  is  true  to  his  character  as  a  plain 
man  of  the  country,  who  fears  God  and  hates  injus- 
tice. His  preaching,  however,  is  not  mere  political 
socialism,  it  is  thoroughly  suffused  with  religious 


PROPHETIC  FELLOWSHIP  107 

feeling;  the  poor  who  are  oppressed  lose  by  ruth- 
less eviction ;  lose  not  only  the  piece  of  land  which 
gave  them  life,  but  also  a  lot  in  "the  congregation 
of  Jehovah."  He  is  not  a  theologian  in  any  large 
sense,  he  is  not  a  statesman,  but  as  rustic  poet 
and  patriot  preacher  he  plays  his  part  and  con- 
tributes his  share  to  the  great  literature  which  rep- 
resents such  a  wonderfully  varied  life.  If  we  note 
this  characteristic  utterance  we  may  see  clearly  that 
rugged  force  rather  than  politeness  and  polish 
marks  the  utterance  of  this  man  from  the  lowlands 
of  Judah. 

"And  I  said — Hear,  I  pray  you,  ye  heads  of  Jacob, 
And  rulers  of  the  house  of  Israel, 
Is  it  not  for  you  to  know  judgment? 
They  hate  the  good  and  love  the  evil, 
They  tear  the  skin  off  the  body 
And  the  flesh  from1  off  the  bones, 
They  devour  the  flesh  of  my  people, 
They  take  the  skin  off  their  bodies, 
They  bruise  their  bones, 
They  chop  them  in  pieces  as  for  the  pot." 

(iii.  1-4.) 

THE  PROPHET  OF  FAITH. 

Isaiah  has  much  in  common  with  all  the  other 
great  prophets  of  this  period;  from  the  standpoint 
of  lofty  thought  and  large  influence  he  is  the  great- 
est. He  is  poet  and  preacher,  thinker  and  states- 
man. When  we  speak  of  him  as  the  prophet  of 
faith  it  is  not  to  suggest  that  he  has  a  theory  of 
faith,  but  rather  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  he  brings 
a  nobler  faith  because  he  has  a  grander  conception 


108    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

of  God.  The  purity  and  majesty  of  God  is  the 
centre  of  his  thought ;  his  faith  in  the  Eternal  King 
is  so  intense,  intelligent  and  well  balanced  that  it 
controls  his  thinking  and  builds  it  up  into  a  living 
system  of  truth.  This  faith  begets  real  reverence; 
it  reveals  to  a  man  his  weakness  and  then  makes 
him  strong;  it  brings  in  a  fear  of  God  that  drives 
out  all  base  fear;  it  casts  a  man  down  that  it  may 
inspire  and  uplift  him.  Hence,  "the  day  of  Jehovah" 
is  a  day  when  man's  foolish  arrogance  and  paltry 
pride  will  be  cast  down  before  the  presence  of  the 
divine  King.  Because  the  worship  in  the  temple, 
the  business  of  the  civic  council,  the  politics  of  the 
court,  because  all  these  forms  of  life  can  now  be 
seen  to  be  feeble  and  impure,  men  ought  to  know 
better  than  look  forward  to  "the  day  of  Jehovah" 
with  shallow  self-satisfaction.  A  faith  such  as 
Isaiah  possesed  was  the  foe  of  all  those  evils  against 
which  the  other  prophets  declaimed.  If  men  had 
more  of  this  faith  they  would  respond  to  the  de- 
mand of  Amos  for  brotherhood,  of  Hosea  for  kind- 
ness and  loyalty,  of  Micah  for  justice;  such  faith 
is  not  a  mere  theory  or  formula,  but  a  living  force 
which  leads  a  man  to  cherish  thoughtfulness  and 
reverence  in  all  times  and  places,  because  he  sees 
that  the  whole  earth  is  filled  with  the  glory  of  the 
Lord.  "Mine  eyes  have  seen  the  King"  means  that 
there  is  order  everywhere,  and  that  the  man  who 
fights  for  righteousness  has  behind  him  the  strength 
of  universal  and  everlasting  law. 


THE  PROPHET  AS  DISCIPLE 


"Zephaniah  is  of  importance  to  us  less  on  his  own  ac- 
count than  because  of  his  use  of  Isaiah.  He  shows  what 
use  a  sober  imitator  can  make  of  the  master's  material  of 
thought.  And  indeed  the  striking  thing  is  the  emphasis 
with  which  at  least  the  extensive  completeness  of  the  judg- 
ment as  well  as  of  the  restoration  is  made  prominent :  all 
peoples  shall  be  punished,  purified  and  made  serviceable  to 
Jehovah.  It  was  not  given  to  Zephaniah  to  penetrate  to 
the  depth  of  his  model,  hence  his  prophecy  does  not  mark 
an  advance,  least  of  all  in  view  of  his  contemporary  Jere- 
miah; but  he  is  one  of  those  who  bear  witness  to  the  sig- 
nificance of  Isaiah  for  the  religion  of  Israel." — B.  Duhm, 
"Die   Theologie   der    Propheten,"   page   225. 

"Prophecy  was  again  roused  from  its  slumbers  by  the 
trumpet  notes  of  the  world's  history.  In  650  the  Assyrian 
Empire  was,  if  anything,  greater  and  mightier  than  ever. 
But  now  destiny  knocked  at  its  gates.  From  the  coasts  of 
the  Black  Sea  a  storm  broke  forth  over  Asia,  such  as  man 
had  never  before  witnessed.  Wild  tribes  of  horsemen, 
after  the  manner  of  the  later  Huns  and  Mongolians,  over- 
ran for  more  than  twenty  years  all  Asia  on  their  fast 
horses,  which  seemed  never  to  tire,  spreading  everywhere 
desolation  and  terror.  Egypt  had  torn  itself  away  from 
the  rule  of  the  Assyrians-,  and  a  new  and  terrible  enemy  in 
the  Medes  who  were  now  consolidating  their  forces  in  the 
rear  of  Nineveh  appeared.  The  Assyrian  world-edifice 
cracked  in  all  its  joints,  and  grave  revolutions  were  im- 
minent. At  once  prophecy  is  at  hand  with  the  small  but 
valuable  book  of  Zephaniah.  The  thunder  of  the  last 
judgment  rolls  in  Zephaniah's  powerful  words,  whose 
dithyrambic  lilt  and  wondrous  music  no  translation  can 
render.  The  Dies  irae,  dies  ilia,  which  the  Roman  church 
and  the  whole  musical  world  now  sings  as  a  requiem,  is 
taken  word  for  word  from  Zephaniah." — Prof.  C  H.  Cor- 
nill,  "The  Prophets  of  Israel,"  page  76. 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  PROPHET  AS  DISCIPLE 

(ZEPHANIAH  ) 

The  great  creative  minds,  the  original  leaders  of 
the  highest  movements  are  few,  hence  we  must  not 
undervalue  the  prophets  and  teachers  of  secondary- 
rank  who  according  to  their  capacity  develop  and 
apply  the  truth  that  has  been  given.  After  the 
preaching  of  the  four  great  prophets,  the  judgment 
that  confirmed  it,  and  the  attempted  reformation 
that  came  out  of  it,  there  was  a  violent  reaction 
marked  by  gloomy  superstition  and  bitter  persecu- 
tion. Between  these  dark  days  under  Manasseh 
and  the  new  reforming  movement  under  Josiah, 
Zephaniah  exercised  his  ministry.  The  book  as- 
cribed to  him  is  a  small  one,  but  it  is  sufficient  to 
show  that  he  is  a  disciple,  that  is,  he  is  dependent 
upon  his  predecessors  and  especially  upon  the  great 
Isaiah;  and  further  that  he  has  distinct  individual- 
ity, the  fragment  of  truth  that  he  does  grasp  he 
uses  effectively  for  practical  purposes. 

By  the  substance  of  his  thought,  as  well  as  the 
style  of  his  teaching,  this  prophet  is  linked  to  Isaiah. 
Like  that  great  prophet  he  also  is  a  man  of  Jeru- 
salem, well  acquainted  with  the  city  and  addressing 
his  admonitions  specially  to  its  inhabitants.  "The 
in 


ii2   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

princes  and  the  king's  children"  receive  particular 
attention ;  the  quarters  of  the  city  where  the  judg- 
ment is  likely  to  strike  first  are  pointed 'out.  The 
local  colour  and  social  atmosphere  is  that  of  a  man 
quite  familiar  with  the  varied  life  and  activity  of 
the  capital.  In  this  connection  then  it  is  worthy  of 
note  that  Hezekiah,  the  ancestor  of  Zephaniah, 
referred  to  in  the  superscription,  may  be  the  king 
of  that  name  with  whom  Isaiah  had  so  much  to  do, 
and  in  whose  reign  a  real  if  not  effective  effort  was 
made  for  the  reformation  of  religion.  The  preach- 
ing of  Isaiah  and  the  reforming  zeal  of  Hezekiah, 
superficially  considered,  seem  to  have  overshot  the 
mark  and  ended  in  complete  failure.  But  a  new  race 
of  teachers  and  reformers  is  about  to  arise  who  will 
be  something  more  than  pale  reflections  of  the  earlier 
prophets ;  men  who  will  broaden  the  message  and 
adapt  it  to  new  conditions.  In  Zephaniah  the  in- 
fluence of  the  old  can  be  very  clearly  traced,  while 
there  is  clearly  visible  a  new  beginning  of  zeal  and 
hopefulness.  He  may  be  correctly  called  a  prophet 
of  judgment,  though  even  if  we  leave  out  of  con- 
sideration the  beautiful  passage  with  which  the 
book  closes  we  may  still  say  that  he  knows  how  to 
mingle  promise  with  threatening.  At  the  beginning 
we  read,  "I  will  cut  off  man  from  off  the  land,  saith 
Jehovah.  I  will  also  stretch  out  mine  hand  upon 
Judah,  and  upon  all  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem," 
and  at  the  end  we  have  this  promise :  "The  rem- 
nant of  Israel  shall  not  do  iniquity  nor  speak  lies; 
neither  shall  a  deceitful  tongue  be  found  in  their 
mouth,  for  they  shall  feed  and  lie  down  and  none 
shall  make  them  afraid." 


PROPHET  AS  DISCIPLE  113 

OLDER   THOUGHTS   IN    A   NEW    SETTING. 

When  Zephaniah  declares  that  Jehovah  will  root 
out  what  is  left  of  Baal  worship  he  is  taking  his 
place  in  a  long  line  of  men  who  fought  for  the 
spirituality  of  religion  and  the  purity  of  worship. 
(i.  4.)  For  centuries  this  warfare  has  been  carried 
on  in  various  forms.  Indeed,  when  the  Hebrews 
came  into  Palestine  with  their  nobler  faith  and  purer 
thought  of  God  war  to  the  death  was  inevitable. 
This  was  a  long,  costly  struggle.  One  important 
incident  in  it  was  the  destruction  of  Northern  Israel, 
where  Elijah  had  fought  so  heroically  and  Hosea 
preached  in  such  tender  plaintive  tones.  (1  Kings 
xviii. ;  Hosea  ii.  16.)  Sensuous  superstition  in  the 
form  of  coarse  nature  worship  lingers  on  in  Pales- 
tine to  this  day,  but  the  prophet  was  right  in  his 
belief  that  by  means  of  a  great  judgment  God  would 
gain  for  Himself  a  people  whose  religion  would 
move  on  a  higher  level  of  intelligence  and  in  a 
sweeter  atmosphere  of  piety.  It  was  not  by  judg- 
ment alone  that  this  was  brought  about,  but  also 
by  the  ministry  of  faithful  men  who  were  ever 
seeking  to  cleanse  religion  from  the  impure  ele- 
ments common  to  that  time  and  place.  When  the 
name  Baal  was  set  aside  much  still  remained  to  be 
done,  for  the  old  paganism  can  live  very  vigorously 
under  new  and  higher  names. 

It  is  instructive  to  compare  Zephaniah's  announce- 
ment of  judgment  with  that  of  other  prophets.  He 
has  caught  something  of  the  tone  and  style  of  Amos 
and  Isaiah,  and  if  there  is  a  tendency  to  a  more  sys- 
tematic treatment  of  the  theme  there  is  less  original 


114   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

connection  of  thought.  Amos  reverses  the  popular 
view  of  "the  day  of  Jehovah"  by  showing  the  real 
nature  of  God's  demands.  In  Isaiah  this  great  day 
is  a  manifestation  of  the  majesty  of  the  divine 
King,  before  which  the  power  and  pride  of  men  is 
bowed  down.  In  both  these  cases  the  message 
comes  first  to  Israel  and  Judah ;  its  universal  signifi- 
cance grows  out  of  its  moral  nature,  or  in  other 
words,  springs  from  the  fact  that  the  principles  of 
righteousness  revealed  in  God's  dealings  with  Israel 
must  be  applicable  to  the  whole  world.  In  our 
prophet  the  setting  is  different ;  the  prophecy  begins 
with  a  general  announcement :  "I  will  utterly  con- 
sume all  things  from  off  the  face  of  the  ground, 
saith  Jehovah.  I  will  consume  man  and  beast ;  I 
will  consume  the  fowls  of  the  heaven,  and  the  fishes 
of  the  sea,"  etc.  Without  giving  any  reason  for 
this  world-wide  catastrophe,  the  statement  is  nar- 
rowed down  to  a  threat  against  Judah  and  Jerusa- 
lem, for  which  detailed  reasons  are  given.  Thus 
the  punishment  of  Judah  is  treated  as  an  incident 
in  a  judgment  universal  in  its  scope  and  character. 
The  classic  passage  beginning  "The  great  day  of 
Jehovah  is  near.  It  is  near  and  greatly  hasteth" 
has  also  a  certain  vagueness  which  has  fitted  it 
for  use  in  later  days  as  a  vehicle  for  the  solemn 
suggestion  of  a  great  day  of  doom.  (i.  14-7.)  No 
doubt  it  is  impressive  to  be  reminded  that  "the  day 
of  Jehovah  is  near,"  but  it  must  not  lead  us  to  for- 
get the  other  truth  which  the  prophets  helped  to 
make  clear,  namely,  that  life  itself  is  a  constant 
silent  process  of  judgment. 


PROPHET  AS  DISCIPLE  115 

The  threat  against  Assyria  and  Nineveh,  its  chief 
city,  was  not  new.  About  this  period  it  received  its 
strongest,  most  passionate  expression  in  the  proph- 
ecy of  Nahum.  One  can  understand  how  after  the 
tyranny  and  cruelty  of  Assyria,  and  after  Isaiah's 
teaching  that  though  Jehovah  might  use  the  proud 
empire  he  would  punish  it,  the  people  of  Judah  came 
to  look  upon  this  particular  foreign  power  as  the 
personification  of  wickedness.  The  judgment  of  the 
world  has  as  one  of  its  chief  features  the  destruc- 
tion of  Nineveh.  A  century  later  Babylon  came  to 
occupy  this  place  in  the  thoughts  of  Jewish  patriots, 
but  as  yet  the  Babylonian  conquest  with  all  its  hor- 
rors is  still  in  the  future.  This  prediction  is  not  a 
mere  cry  for  revenge,  but  an  expression  of  faith  in 
a  righteous  ruler  who  will  bring  the  proud  nation 
to  account  for  its  many  crimes.  It  was  amply  ful- 
filled, even  if  the  event  came  about  in  a  form  some- 
what different  from  the  prophet's  expectations. 

HIS   MESSAGE   TO  THE   CITY. 

Zephaniah  resembles  the  earlier  prophets  in  this 
that  he  announces  judgment  coming  upon  his  own 
people.  He  does  not  develop  at  great  length  his  con- 
ception of  God's  character,  but  states  briefly,  "Je- 
hovah is  righteous  in  the  midst  of  her ;  morning  by 
morning  He  brings  His  justice  to  light."  How- 
ever, by  his  strong  specific  charge  against  the  city  he 
shows  clearly  that  Jehovah  demands  social  right- 
eousness and  religious  purity.  He  sets  forth 
the  judgment  in  a  startling  form:  It  is  "the 
day  of  Jehovah's  sacrifice."  "Jehovah  hath  pre- 
pared a  sacrifice;  He  hath  bid  His  guests."     The 


n6   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

prophet  sees  the  weird  picture  and  makes  it  stand  out 
clearly  by  a  few  sharp  strokes.  Judah  is  the  vic- 
tim in  a  sacrificial  meal ;  the  slaughter  is  complete ; 
her  enemies  gather  now  in  solemn  silence  round 
the  altar.  The  grim  idea  is  not  altogether  new,  but 
the  prophet  is  not  a  smooth  imitator  of  other  men's 
illustrations.  Yet  in  this  place  and  in  the  word  play 
of  ii.  4  this  supposed  descendant  of  King  Hezekiah 
does  remind  us  of  the  peasant  prophet  Micah. 

What  then  are  the  sins  which  merit  such  terrible 
doom,  and  make  it  so  inevitable?  The  lawlessness 
of  princes  and  the  coarse  selfishness  of  priests.  The 
dishonesty  of  traffickers  and  the  careless  frivolity 
of  the  common  people.  There  is  lack  of  true  lead- 
ership and,  as  Hosea  said,  it  is  "like  priest,  like  peo- 
ple."   What  a  terrible  indictment  is  this : 

"Woe  to  her  that  is  rebellious  and  polluted,  to  the 
oppressing  city ! 

She  obeyed  not  the  voice ;  she  received  not  instruc- 
tion ; 

She  trusted  not  in  Jehovah;  she  drew  not  near  to 
her  God. 

Her  princes  within  her  are  roaring  lions ; 

Her  judges  are  evening  wolves  ; 

Her  prophets  are  bragging,  treacherous  men ; 

They  leave  nothing  till  the  morrow. 

Her  priests  have  profaned  the  sacred  things,  they 
have  done  violence  to  the  law." 

This  is  certainly  a  powerful  picture  of  social  dis- 
order and  reckless  irresponsibility ;  and  in  such  cir- 
cumstances we  are  not  surprised  to  learn  that  from 
the  point  of  view  of  religion  matters  are  in  a  hope- 


PROPHET  AS  DISCIPLE  117 

less  condition.  Some  practice  foreign  idolatries ; 
"they  worship  the  host  of  heaven  upon  the  house 
tops."  These  ape  recent  fashions  and  import  their 
religion,  as  well  as  their  clothes,  from  abroad.  Some 
pray  to  Jehovah  and  swear  by  Molech  they  are  de- 
termined to  avoid  fanaticism  and  think  it  safer  to 
have  two  gods  than  one.  They  do  not  understand 
that  there  is  a  noble  intolerance — the  outcome  of 
intelligence  and  faith.  And  then  there  are  the  scep- 
tics, those  who  think  that  all  this  trouble  about  re- 
ligion of  one  kind  or  the  other  is  absurd. 

"I  will  search  Jerusalem  with  lanterns, 
And  punish  the  men  that  are  settled  on  their  lees 
That  say  in  their  heart,  Jehovah  will  not  do  good, 
Neither  will  He  do  evil." 

These  are  the  indifferent  who  have  no  faith,  no 
zeal  in  God's  service,  no  sense  of  public  duty.  They 
justify  themselves  on  the  plea  that  Jehovah  is  an 
absentee  God,  who  does  nothing,  but  allows  the 
world  to  whirl  along  in  any  careless  fashion.  This 
is  the  real  infidelity,  this  assertion  that  there  is  no 
real  vindication  of  divine  law  in  human  life,  and 
hence  no  significance  in  worship,  no  meaning  in 
duty.  When  Jehovah  comes  on  His  round  of  in- 
spection and  searches  out  the  dark  corners  that  easy- 
going folly  will  be  put  to  shame. 

In  such  a  chaotic  condition  of  things,  with  sweep- 
ing judgment  inevitable,  where  is  there  room  for 
any  hope? 

Logically  it  seems  to  be  excluded ;  the  prophet's 
scheme  of  thought  scarcely  provides  for  it,  but  his 


u8  PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

soul  hungers  for  it  and  faith  leaps  up  into  the  face 

of  fear. 

"Seek  Jehovah,  all  ye  humble  ones  of  the  earth ; 

Ye  who  perform  His  ordinances 

Seek  righteousness,  seek  humility; 
It  may  be  that  ye  shall  be  hidden  in  the  day  of 
Jehovah's  anger." — (ii.  3.) 


THE  PROPHET  OF  VENGEANCE— NAHUM 


NAHUM 

"So  he  chants  of  winds  and  the  earthquake:  these  are 
the  hot  breath  and  the  awful  tread  of  God.  Of  old  He 
was  the  Maker  and  the  Lord  of  the  rain,  and  of  all  that 
rain  could  bring  of  evil  and  of  good.  The  clouds  that 
darkened  the  sky  were  the  dust  flung  up  by  His  feet  and 
by  His  hosts  that  rushed  along  at  His  will.  Men  saw 
the  cloud,  and  then  they  knew  that  He  was  coming.  So 
today  cries  Nahum,  the  dashing  of  great  waves,  the  dry- 
ing away  of  our  rivers,  is  all  caused  by  His  treading  on 
the  sea  and  streams.  There  flash  the  lightnings ;  they 
are  the  gleam  of  His  sword  and  spear.  See,  the  tops  of 
mountains  are  dashed  off,  and  roll  away  down  as  in  a 
molten  stream  to  the  plain.  This  is  because  He  is  plant- 
ing His  feet  on  the  high  places,  whereon  He  may  alight 
as  He  descends  to  earth.  It  is  His  anger's  heat  that 
burns  in  summer  time  the  forests  of  Lebanon,  the  vines 
on  Carmel,  and  the  wheat  fields  of  Bashan.  When  our 
elements  rage,  it  is  our  God  Iahweh  who  rages.  Know 
then  His  awful  anger;  understand  His  heart." — Prof.  A. 
Duff,  LL.D.,  "Old  Testament  Theology,"  ii.  48. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  PROPHET  OF  VENGEANCE— NAHUM 

The  great  prophets  before  the  Babylonian  Exile, 
because  they  were  preachers  of  righteousness,  placed 
God's  judgments  in  the  forefront  of  their  message ; 
most  of  them  for  the  very  same  reason  laid  the 
greater  emphasis  upon  the  chastisement  that  must 
come  upon  Israel.  They  were  all,  no  doubt,  con- 
scious that  the  principles  underlying  such  preaching 
were  capable  of  wide  application.  But  with  Amos, 
Hosea,  Micah  and  Jeremiah  the  supreme  question 
was  how  to  bring  home  to  the  hearts  of  their  own 
people  the  thought  that  their  God  is  zealous  for 
righteousness  rather  than  desirous  of  splendid  ritual. 
They  were  prepared  to  judge  other  nations  in  the 
light  of  the  same  searching,  impartial  standard ;  but 
as  the  righteousness  of  God  was  the  central  princi- 
ple, the  organizing  idea  of  all  their  teaching,  their 
own  nation  was  their  chief  concern  and  the  direct 
object  of  their  ministry.  Each  in  his  own  way  might 
preach  a  strong  sermon  on  the  text,  "Vengeance  is 
mine ;  I  will  repay,  saith  Jehovah."  But  in  Nahum 
we  meet  a  prophet  for  whom  this  is  the  one  text  and 
tlfe  whole  sermon.  The  destruction  of  Nineveh  is 
the  theme,  treated  as  a  manifestation  of  Jehovah's 
power  going  forth  in  stern  judgment,  meting  out 


122   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

merited  punishment  to  an  exceedingly  proud  and 
wicked  nation. 

This  is  the  one  thing  that  is  certain  in  connection 
with  this  small  book;  it  stands  out  boldly  in  the 
midst  of  many  minor  uncertainties.  The  proud  city 
of  Nineveh  is  about  to  meet  its  doom  at  the  hand  of 
an  avenging  God ;  the  prophet,  recognizing  the  jus- 
tice of  God,  and  remembering  the  cruel  deeds  of  the 
Assyrian  Empire,  feels  justified  in  exulting  over 
the  terrible  fate  which  he  pictures  in  such  a  vivid, 
powerful  fashion.  The  one  aspect  of  truth  pro- 
claimed in  such  patriotic,  passionate  tones  is  that  at 
last,  even  after  long  delay,  complete  punishment 
comes  upon  the  arrogant  nation  that  has  despised 
God  and  outraged  humanity.  This,  of  course,  im- 
plies many  things ;  but  we  are  now  concerned  with 
the  prophet's  special  view  of  the  world. 

THE  UNCERTAINTIES. 

We  are  not  sure  just  at  what  point  within  the  lat- 
ter half  of  the  seventh  century  B.  C.  we  must  place 
this  book.  It  is  characteristic  that  the  two  lines 
which  inclose  the  space  are  two  acts  of  judgment, 
two  chapters  in  the  great  world-story  of  divine  retri- 
bution (iii.  8).  If  the  writer  is  regarded  as  a  suc- 
cessor of  Isaiah,  we  must  admit  that  he  presents 
only  a  subordinate  fragment  of  that  great  prophet's 
teaching.  If  we  think  of  him  as  a  contemporary  of 
Jeremiah,  we  remember  that  it  was  a  very  different 
side  of  the  truth  that  was  emphasized  in  those  dark 
days  by  that  faithful,  many-sided  man.  As  for 
Nahum  himself,  we  know  him  only  by  means  of 
this  brief  prophecy  and  if  it  reveals  vividness  of  im- 


PROPHET  OF  VENGEANCE  123 

agination  and  intensity  of  feeling,  it  certainly  shows 
an  unusual  narrowness  of  range  in  one  who  pos- 
sessed great  gifts,  and  who  saw  these  scenes  with  the 
poet's  eye.  One  would  like  to  accept  the  suggestion 
that  here  was  a  man  who  belonged  to  "the  lost  ten 
tribes"  and  was  not  lost;  a  member  of  that  section 
of  Israel  which  suffered  most  severely  from  Assyr- 
ia commissioned  to  herald  the  doom  of  the  proud, 
cruel  empire.  There  would  surely  be  more  than  "po- 
etic justice"  in  that ;  such  a  view  may  be  permitted 
as  a  "pious  opinion,"  but  cannot  claim  to  rank  as  a 
sure  result  of  historical  investigation.  Two  or  three 
words  and  a  few  doubtful  allusions  must  not  be 
made  to  carry  too  great  a  burden.  Absolute  unity 
of  authorship  may  be  questioned  even  by  men  who 
are  not  given  to  eccentricities  of  criticism.  The 
fact  that  there  is  no  certain  reference  to  Nineveh 
in  the  first  chapter,  and  that  this  section  is  in  its 
character  a  poetic  and  theological  introduction  — 
these  and  other  things  may  admit  of  various  ex- 
planations. But  there  is,  at  all  events,  a  spirit- 
ual unity,  a  similarity  of  tone  and  atmosphere 
which  justifies  us  in  reading  the  great  doctrine 
of  an  avenging  God,  in  the  light  of  the  whole 
book.  Interpreters  may  differ  as  to  the  point 
whether  the  prophet  had  in  view  the  actual  foe  of 
Nineveh,  the  specific  instrument  appointed  to  exe- 
cute the  doom,  or  whether  from  a  greater  distance 
he  delivered  with  tremendous  force  and  clearness 
the  God-given  message.  But  none  of  these  differ- 
ences need  dim  our  view  of  the  particular  prophetic 
idea  here  embodied. 


124    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

A  DEFINITE  MESSAGE  AND  ITS  TEACHING. 

Nineveh  was  a  great  city,  the  centre  of  a  splendid 
empire,  an  empire  that  had  a  long  career  of  vic- 
tory; and  victory  in  such  a  case  meant  unbridled 
violence,  cruel  greed,  insatiable  lust.  This  empire 
then  was  one  of  the  richest,  most  powerful  and  most 
flagrantly  wicked  that  the  world  has  ever  seen.  The 
story  of  this  splendid  tyranny  and  social  corruption 
can  be  read  in  books  and  in  the  stones  dug  up  long 
after  Nineveh  was  dead  and  forgotten.  The  resur- 
rection of  Nineveh  has  only  confirmed  the  story  of 
its  shame  and  proved  that  the  prophet,  with  all  his 
passion,  was  not  guilty  of  exaggeration.  Israel  and 
Judah  had  suffered  much  from  these  arrogant,  un- 
principled tyrants ;  and  it  is  quite  natural  that  with 
the  prophet's  poetic  fervour  there  should  be  mingled 
the  fire  of  intense  patriotism.  As  we  follow  his 
predictions  we  can  hear  the  crack  of  the  whip  and 
the  clatter  of  the  chariot ;  we  can  see  the  victorious 
army  rushing  to  the  final  attack,  and  see  the  multi- 
tude of  corpses  strewn  in  disorder  about  the  path. 
The  lion  is  tracked  to  his  last  lair  and  slaughtered 
without  mercy.  In  the  hour  of  doom  strong  men 
faint,  and  powerful  defences  fail.  It  was  a  bloody 
city,  full  of  lies  and  robbery.  The  judgment  is  thor- 
ough ;  there  is  no  healing  of  the  bruise.  No  more 
shall  the  ambassadors  of  this  proud  city  go  forth  to 
dictate  oppressive  terms  to  weak  peoples.  All  that 
hear  the  noise  of  her  downfall  will  clap  their  hands 
with  revengeful  joy.  Her  wickedness  has  passed 
upon  all  the  peoples  continually ;  and  when  she  dies 
there  is  no  creature  to  mourn.     Men's  minds  are 


PROPHET  OF  VENGEANCE         125 

filled  with  the  solemn  conviction  that  God  has  taken 
a  great  curse  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth. 

This  is  our  prophet's  one  distinctive  message;  it 
was  true,  and  history  has  abundantly  justified  it. 
We  do  not  say  that  this  was  all  the  truth  he  held, 
but  it  is  what  he  has  given  us  with  all  his  intensity 
of  conviction  and  glory  of  poetic  imagery.  Hence 
the  view  of  God  given  in  the  first  chapter  forms  a 
fitting  background  for  such  a  prediction. 

"A  jealous  God  and  vengeful  is  Jehovah ; 
Jehovah  is  vengeful  and  wrathful ; 
Jehovah  is  vengeful  upon  His  adversaries 
And  retaineth  wrath  against  His  enemies." 

This  magnificent  theophany  needs  meditation,  not 
commentary.  Instead  of  "Jehovah  is  slow  to 
anger,  and  great  in  power, 

And  will  not  acquit  the  wicked"  (i.  3) 

it  is  suggested  that  we  should  read  "great  in  mercy," 
and  so  bring  the  verse  into  line  with  a  great  number 
of  other  passages.  But  there  is  no  documentary  evi- 
dence requiring  this,  and  surely  the  mention  of 
power  is  most  appropriate  here.  The  message  is 
that 

"Though  the  mills  of  God  grind  slowly,  yet  they 
grind  exceeding  small ; 
Though   with   patience   He   stands   waiting,   with 
exactness  grinds  He  all." 

The  punishment  of  guilt  may  be  slow  in  coming, 
but  it  is  absolutely  sure.  At  the  seventh  verse  it 
may  be  well  to  follow  the  Greek  Bible  and  gain  a 
better  parallelism,  thus: 


126   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

"Jehovah  is  good  to  those  who  wait  on  Him, 
A  stronghold  in  the  day  of  trouble." 
But  the  Hebrew  version,  "Good  as  a  stronghold  in 
the  day  of  trouble,"  contains  a  thought  specially 
suitable  in  such  an  atmosphere;  on  the  whole,  it  is 
the  tremendous  power  and  stern  justice  of  the  great 
God  that  is  made  prominent,  and  these  are  brought 
to  bear  upon  a  wicked  nation.  The  distinction  of 
our  prophet  is  the  way  in  which  he  makes  this 
thought  stand  out  in  its  solitary  grandeur. 

When  we  examine  the  differences  that  separate 
Nahum  from  those  who  went  before,  we  must  admit 
that  they  are  great  and  of  immense  importance. 
Perhaps  it  is  not  well  to  press  the  point  that  he  does 
not,  like  Isaiah,  speak  of  Assyria  as  an  instrument 
in  the  hand  of  Jehovah,  for  the  time  had  come 
that  Isaiah  himself  foresaw  when  God  would 
cast  away  the  rod  He  had  used.  It  is  signifi- 
cant that  he  says  nothing  concerning  the  sins 
of  his  own  people  and  concentrates  attention  so 
exclusively  on  a  foreign  nation,  and  this  at  a  time 
when  Judah  was  preparing  for  the  greatest  catas- 
trophe in  its  history.  Assyria  passes  away,  but 
Babylon  takes  the  place,  and  becomes  "the  servant 
of  Jehovah"  to  administer  a  still  severer  chastise- 
ment upon  the  people  who  had  rejected  so  many 
privileges.  It  may  be  said  that  he  had  a  specific 
message  to  deliver  which  did  not  involve  the  presen- 
tation of  a  large  circle  of  religious  ideas.  Let  us, 
then,  remember  that  the  proclamation  of  vengeance 
against  the  outside  foe,  pleasant  as  it  may  be  to  our 
patriotic  pride,  is  only  a  small  part  of  the  prophetic 
activity,  and  that  there  is  danger  that  our  joy  over 


PROPHET  OF  VENGEANCE  127 

the  enemy's  fall  may  be  greater  than  our  hatred  of 
the  sins  that  God  has  so  strikingly  condemned.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  this  was  precisely  the  temptation 
to  which  the  Jews  yielded  in  later  days ;  they  made 
the  contrast  between  themselves  and  the  world  ab- 
solute, privilege  and  blessing  for  themselves  and 
severe  judgment  for  those  outside  became  the  fixed 
and  central  point  of  their  creed.  Thus  they  teach  us 
that  one  aspect  of  truth  must  not  be  separated  from 
the  whole  to  which  it  belongs,  and  in  which  it  finds 
its  explanation. 

Nahum  sets  forth  one  form  of  the  truth  that  the 
world  is  governed  by  a  righteous  God.  Religion 
does  not  condemn  a  wholesome  patriotism ;  through 
the  religious  influence  that  purifies  and  enlarges  it, 
this  natural  feeling  finds  its  fullest  satisfaction.  The 
indignation  against  tyranny  and  cruelty,  the  pas- 
sionate cry  for  vengeance  on  those  who,  in  a  ruth- 
less fashion,  outrage  all  divine  and  human  laws,  is 
an  expression  of  that  justice  which  centres  in  God 
and  which  He  will,  in  due  time,  vindicate.  God  does 
hear  the  cry  of  the  oppressed,  and  He  will  destroy 
the  nation  that  is  built  up  by  brute  violence  and 
lawless  selfishness.  But  He  will  also  cause  the 
noblest  nation  to  suffer  for  mistakes  and  pay  the 
penalty  of  sins.  In  our  own  day,  and  within  our 
own  borders,  we  may  see  the  principle  which  lies 
behind  this  prophecy  working  out  its  legitimate  con- 
clusion, a  conclusion  which  works  for  righteousness 
and  serves  the  interests  of  mercy. 


THE  PROPHET'S  QUESTIONING 


"Perplext  in  faith,  but  pure  in  deeds, 
At  last  he  beat  his  music  out. 
There  lives  more  faith  in  honest  doubt, 
Believe  me,  than  in  half  the  creeds. 

He  fought  his  doubts  and  gather'd  strength, 
He  would  not  make  his  judgment  blind. 
He  faced  the  spectres  of  the  mind 

And  laid  them :  thus  he  came  at  length 

To  find  a  stronger  faith  his  own ; 
And  Power  was  with  him  in  the  night 
Which  makes  the  darkness  and  the  light, 
And  dwells  not  in  the  light  alone, 

But  in  the  darkness  and  the  cloud, 
As  over  Sinai's  peaks  of  old, 
While  Israel  made  their  gods  of  gold, 

Altho*  the  trumpet  blew  so  loud." 

— Tennyson. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  PROPHET'S  QUESTIONING 

(habakkuk  ) 

This  prophet  presents  his  impatient  question  be- 
fore the  throne  of  God.  He  receives  an  answer 
which  becomes  a  message  to  his  time  and  which 
possesses  perennial  significance.  We  can  scarcely 
call  this  "scepticism;"  it  is  rather  painful  perplex- 
ity. His  religious  beliefs  are  clear  and  strong,  but 
the  question  is  how  can  they  be  harmonized  with 
the  facts  of  life?  This  problem  is  considered  from 
the  personal  point  of  view  in  the  Book  of  Job, 
Psalm1  lxxiii.  and  elsewhere,  but  here  the  signifi- 
cance is  national.  "Righteous"  means  the  Jewish 
nation  and  "wicked"  the  Chaldeans.  In  later  Juda- 
ism this  contrast  between  the  righteous  nation  and 
the  wicked  foreign  foe  was  held  in  a  hard  mechan- 
ical fashion,  but  here  it  is  set  forth  in  connection 
with  a  great  moral  principle,  which  refuses  to  be 
fastened  to  any  local  limitation.  Before  the  prophet 
went  to  his  watch-tower  he  was  able  to  affirm  his 
living  faith  in  a  God  who  rules  the  world  and  whose 
eyes  are  so  pure  that  they  cannot  look  upon  evil  (i. 
12-15).  Indeed  what  would  be  the  use  of  going  to 
watch  and  pray  if  he  did  not  believe  in  the  Holy 
One  who  can  answer  his  cry  and  explain  the  glaring 
131 


132    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

contradiction?  "Wherefore  lookest  Thou  upon 
them  that  deal  treacherously,  and  holdest  Thy  peace 
when  the  wicked  swalloweth  up  the  man  that  is  more 
righteous  than  he  ?"  It  is  because  the  man's  faith  is 
so  real  and  the  facts  of  life  also  so  real  that  the 
problem  is  so  pressing  and  painful. 

The  splendid  poem  in  the  third  chapter  is  a  suit- 
able supplement  with  its  magnificent  theophany  and 
its  beautiful  expression  of  sublime  trust  in  the  God 
of  salvation,  but  it  is  not  closely  connected  with 
the  main  theme  of  the  book;  our  prophet  is  con- 
cerned more  with  the  righteousness  than  the  power 
of  Jehovah.  There  are  many  difficulties  to  be  en- 
countered in  the  detailed  explanation  of  the  first 
two  chapters,  and  the  settlement  of  these  will  nat- 
urally influence  the  way  in  which  an  expositor  states 
the  precise  form  of  the  prophet's  question  and  an- 
swer ;  but  the  principle  involved  is  the  same,whether 
we  regard  him  as  dealing  with  the  battle  between 
the  wicked  and  the  righteous  within  the  pale  of  his 
own  nation  or  as  concerned  altogether  with  the  pride 
and  insolence  of  the  outside  enemy ;  or,  in  other 
words,  if  he  is  more  closely  related  to  Nahum  than 
to  Jeremiah.  Among  the  true  prophets  we  meet 
variety  and  individuality.  Each  has  his  own  point 
of  view,  but  they  are  all  men  who  are  seeking  to 
interpret  the  facts  of  life  in  the  light  of  God's  right- 
eousness. In  this  book  we  learn  specially  that 
prophecy  has  a  strong  relation  to  the  prophet's  own 
experience.  It  is  not  a  message  copied  from  a  book ; 
it  is  not  a  ready-made  formula  or  even  a  carefully 
reasoned  intellectual  solution.  It  comes  to  him  from 
God  by  a  process  that  stirs  into  high  activity  all  the 


PROPHET'S  QUESTIONING  133 

powers  of  his  soul.  Habakkuk  wrestles  with  the 
difficulty  that  oppresses  him;  he  prays  and  waits 
until  he  prevails.  Like  another  true  saint,  he  does 
not  use  his  doubts  to  show  his  own  cleverness  or 
to  disturb  others,  but  waits  until  he  has  something 
positive  to  preach  when  even  the  perplexities  viewed 
in  the  light  of  the  sanctuary  shall  play  a  useful 
part. 

"Jehovah,  how  long  shall  I  cry  and  Thou  wilt  not 

hear? 
I  cry  unto  Thee  of  violence  and  Thou  doest  not  help ; 
Wherefore  dost  Thou  make  me  to  see  iniquity,  and 

dost  look  upon  trouble?" 

—  (i.  2,  3;  cf.  Psalm  lxxiii.  15.) 

Here  we  have  weariness,  impatience  and  perplex- 
ity. The  prophet  views  with  personal  irritation  the 
dark  problem  of  life  as  it  appears  before  his  eyes. 
He  has  pity  upon  his  own  people ;  he  knows  that 
their  life  is  imperfect,  but  when  he  thinks  of  the 
efforts  that  have  been  made  to  raise  the  standard 
of  righteousness  in  politics  and  religion,  he  wonders 
that  people  worse  than  they  should  be  allowed  to 
punish  them,  and  that  the  scornful  foreigner's  op- 
pressive cruelty  should  prevail  so  long.  It  was  just 
at  this  point  that  many  broke  down  and  said,  "Je- 
hovah does  not  care,  or  His  power  is  limited.  It  is 
no  use  being  so  narrow  ;  we  may  as  well  compromise 
matters  and  pay  some  little  tribute  to  the  other 
gods  and  receive  a  share  of  the  success  they  have 
to  give."  It  is  when  we  realize  the  popular  supersti- 
tions of  the  time  that  we  can  appreciate  the  loneli- 
ness, strength  and  grandeur  of  the  prophets.  A  man 


134    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

who  was  so  hard  pressed  in  spite  of  his  noble  faith 
could  have  some  compassion  on  those  who  were  so 
much  weaker  than  himself. 

We  can  understand  the  prophet's  impatience. 
There  may  be  weakness  in  it,  but  it  is  also  tinged 
with  piety  and  patriotism.  It  is  not  all  personal 
vexation.  There  is  much  real  zeal  and  jealousy  for 
the  righteousness  of  God.  The  prophet  is  just  as 
zealous  for  the  vindication  of  Jehovah's  character 
as  for  the  honour  and  safety  of  his  own  nation.  But 
God's  demand  is  that  the  prophet  must  have  pa- 
tience. It  is  the  prophet's  duty  to  watch  and  wait. 
He  can  utter  his  complaint.  Certainly  there  is  no 
book  where  man's  freedom  of  utterance  is  more 
fully  vindicated  than  in  the  Old  Testament.  Every 
mood  and  passion  of  the  soul  finds  full  expression. 
So  long  as  it  is  not  mere  self-conceit  or  idle  fret- 
fulness  it  is  good  that  man's  complaint  should  be 
spoken  and  not  cherished  in  sullen  silence.  When 
that  is  done  the  prophet  can  look  longingly  to- 
wards God.    How  dignified  is  this  attitude ! 

"I  will  stand  upon  my  watch,  and  set  me  on  my 

tower, 
And  I  will  look  forth  to  see  what  He  will  speak 

with  me 
And  what  answer  He  will  give  to  my  plea." 

To  such  anxious  hope  and  earnest  expectation 
an  answer  is  not  lacking.  The  man  who  really  de- 
sires to  look  at  things  in  the  light  of  eternity  is 
lifted  above  party  interests  and  personal  prejudices, 
and  can  look  out  with  a  clear  eye  to  discern  the 
signs  of  the  times,  and  interpret  the  movement  of 


PROPHET'S  QUESTIONING  135 

history.  The  God-sent  vision  that  answers  the 
questioning  of  his  own  soul  forms  a  message  that  is 
needed  by  all.  The  revelation  is  not  for  his  private 
satisfaction.  It  must  not  be  hidden.  Let  it  be 
placarded  in  the  streets  in  plain  characters  so  that 
all  may  read  it.  God  has  His  wise  righteous  pur- 
poses that  are  even  now  moving  towards  their  ful- 
filment and  hastening  to  the  end.  Though  this  ful- 
filment may  seem  to  be  delayed  it  is  absolutely  sure. 
This  is  the  principle  that  needs  to  be  proclaimed 
and  understood.  It  is  that  the  soul  of  the  wicked 
man  is  not  straight  and  square  within  him. 

"But  the  righteous  shall  live  by  his  faithfulness." 
Here  we  reach  the  heart  of  our  prophet's  message. 
If  it  seems  to  us  to  be  simple  and  commonplace 
let  us  remember  the  toil  and  tears  through  which 
it  came  to  him.  It  may  be  said  that  there  is  nothing 
new  here,  even  according  to  his  own  statement. 
This  was  all  implied  in  the  belief  in  a  righteous  God 
that  he  professed.  Just  so.  In  the  full,  clear  light 
of  to-day  it  is  easy  for  us  to  see  that ;  but  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact  it  is  only  when  a  man  is  thrown  back  in 
doubt  and  agony  upon  his  creed  that  he  begins 
to  realize  its  full  meaning.  The  prophet  joins  in 
the  most  significant  manner  two  things  which  Chris- 
tian theology  recognizes  as  two  aspects  of  the  same 
sublime  reality,  personal  faith  in  the  righteous  God 
and  the  clear  perception  of  the  moral  order  of  the 
world.  The  superficial  view  is  to  say  that  in  the 
face  of  pride  and  tyranny  God  is  silent ;  He  does 
nothing.  Even  the  man  of  faith  in  hours  of  weak- 
ness hears  this  sinister  whisper  in  his  soul,  "God  is 
silent;    He  does  nothing."      The   deeper  thought 


136    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

that  comes  in  the  hour  of  meditation  and  prayer  is 
that  the  Eternal  is  never  silent,  but  ever-present 
and  always  active.  It  is  true  that  the  prophet  re- 
fers to  the  future.  The  message  is  written  plainly 
so  that  men's  faith  may  be  confirmed  when  future 
events  cast  their  lurid  light  upon  it,  when  it  is  read 
in  the  light  of  burning  cities,  and  amid  the  crash 
of  falling  empires.  He  has  also  his  great  hope  of 
a  time  "when  the  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  know- 
ledge of  the  glory  of  Jehovah,  as  the  waters  cover 
the  sea."  But  the  great  truth  which  has  come  to 
him  and  in  which  he  finds  rest  is  one  of  present 
application,  namely  this,  that  character  decides  des- 
tiny, sin  is  its  own  punishment.  We  are  so  familiar 
with  this  truth  and  have  had  presented  to  us  in  so 
many  forms  the  fact  that  whatsoever  a  man  soweth 
that  shall  he  also  reap,  that  we  do  not  easily  feel 
how  living  and  original  it  w&s  to  the  prophet  in  his 
hour  of  wrestling. 

The  prophet  sees  that  the  oppressed  people  may 
well  take  up  a  "taunting  proverb"  against  the  ty- 
rants and  cry  against  him  manifold  "Woes."  In 
so  doing  they  are  not  merely  manifesting  personal 
feeling;  they  express  the  judgment  of  God  and  pre- 
dict the  doom  which  has  already  begun  to  work 
itself  out.  Insatiable  greed,  unbridled  lust,  reckless 
extravagance,  shameful  cruelty,  worship  of  one's 
own  power;  these  sins  against  God  and  man  carry 
in  themselves  the  seeds  of  their  own  corruption. 
Just  in  so  far  as  a  nation  is  ruled  in  this  spirit  it 
is  built  upon  a  rotten  foundation ;  its  day  of  doom 
may  seem  to  tarry,  but  it  is  in  process  of  coming 
all  the  time.     Its  very  success  is  its  degradation, 


PROPHET'S  QUESTIONING        137 

even  before  the  height  of  ambition  is  reached, 
judgment  comes  by  slow  decay  or  sudden  calamity. 
"But  the  just  shall  live  by  his  faith."  Isaiah 
teaches  the  same  truth  in  a  different  form.  When 
we  meet  it  in  Paul  it  has  advanced  into  another  at- 
mosphere and  taken  on  new  associations.  In  the 
present  connection  it  is  simple  and  deep.  It  sug- 
gests that  to  be  righteous  is  itself  a  strength  and 
satisfaction.  The  plain  statement  is  that  the  right- 
eous man  lives  by  his  faithfulness.  Righteousness 
exalteth  a  nation ;  proud  iniquity  brings  it  to  the 
ground.  This  really  means  that  the  righteous  man 
lives  by  his  faith  in  God,  by  his  perception  of  God's 
working  in  the  regular  movement  of  life  and  by 
his  loyalty  to  the  same.  This  is  true  when  the 
dark  disappointment  and  painful  contradictions  of 
life  make  it  seem  most  uncertain.  If  we  are  to  hold 
this  truth  firmly  and  with  living  adaptation  to  our 
own  needs  we  must  gain  it  for  ourselves  through 
the  same  patient  watchfulness  and  persistent  prayer. 
As  applied  to  the  life  of  the  individual  it  receives 
in  the  lowliness  and  glory  of  Jesus  its  highest  ful- 
filment and  interpretation. 


THE  PROPHET'S  PRESENTATION  OF 
JEHOVAH'S  PLEA 


"For  when  man  comes  to  front  the  everlasting  God,  and 
look  the  splendour  of  His  judgments  in  the  face,  personal 
integrity,  the  dream  of  spotlessness  and  innocence,  vanish 
into  thin  air :  your  decencies,  and  your  church-going,  and 
your  regularities,  and  your  attachment  to  a  correct  school 
and  party,  your  gospel  formulas  of  sound  doctrine — what 
is  all  that  in  front  of  the  blaze  of  the  wrath  to  come?" 

"A  heart  renewed — a  loving  heart — a  penitent,  humble 
heart — a  heart  broken  and  contrite,  purified  by  love — that 
and  only  that  is  the  rest  of  man.  Spotlessness  may  do  for 
angels — Repentance  unto  Life  is  the  highest  that  belongs 
to  man." — F.  W.  Robertson. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  PROPHET'S   PRESENTATION   OF 
JEHOVAH'S  PLEA 

(Micah  vi.  1-9  ) 

Professor  Huxley,  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
champions  of  the  claims  of  science  in  the  latter  half 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  used  to  point  to  this  great 
passage  as  presenting  a  complete  picture  of  the 
highest  religion.  According  to  this  authority,  when 
the  great  word  has  been  spoken — "He  hath  showed 
thee,  O  man,  what  is  good ;  and  what  doth  Jehovah 
require  of  thee  but  to  do  justly,  to  love  mercy,  and 
to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God" — the  whole  secret 
has  been  revealed,  substantially  all  has  been  said, 
yet  the  same  writer  could  say,  in  a  different  connec- 
tion :  "The  question  of  'inspiration'  really  possesses 
no  interest  for  those  who  have  cast  ecdesiasticism 
and  all  its  works  aside,  and  have  no  faith  in  any 
source  of  truth  save  that  which  is  reached  by  the 
patient  application  of  scientific  methods."  O/jr 
present  purpose  is  not  controversial.  We  wish 
rather  to  allow  the  prophets  to  speak  for  themselves 
and  reiterate  their  high  message,  which  is  thus  ad- 
mitted by  keenest  critics  to  possess  abiding  appro- 
priateness and  perennial  power.  We  cannot,  there- 
fore, consider  how  far  the  true  prophet,  in  his  read- 
ing of  history  and  interpretation  of  life,  in  contrast 
141 


142    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

to  the  fitful  follies  of  his  contemporaries,  may  be 
said  to  have  pursued  a  scientific  method.  There  is, 
however,  one  bold  fact  which  we  cannot  ignore. 
The  prophet  claims  to  speak  for  God,  and  to  have 
received  his  message  from  the  Eternal  King  who 
rules  the  nations  and  demands  the  intelligent  homage 
of  the  individual  soul.  Further,  the  prophet  in  car- 
rying out  this  conviction  became  in  his  own  way 
a  critic  of  the  Church,  to  this  extent,  that  he  was  an 
opponent  of  false  ritualism  and  narrow  "ecclesias- 
ticism."  Though  gifted  with  great  clearness  of 
thought,  he  does  not  altogether  fight  his  battle  with 
those  weapons  of  precision  in  which  the  modern  man 
of  science  makes  his  boast;  prophecy  is  not  keen 
logic,  swayed  by  cool  scepticism.  It  is,  rather,  a 
living  enthusiasm  for  the  true  religion,  seeking  to 
conquer  superstition  by  bringing  into  the  life  of 
man  a  loftier,  purer  thought  of  God.  The  prophet 
speaks  out  of  his  rich  knowledge  of  God  and  man. 

The  dramatic  structure  of  the  passage  brings  out 
this  varied  knowledge  in  a  manner  at  once  natural 
and  beautiful.  If  dialogue  meant  stringing  question 
and  answer  together,  in  a  mechanical  manner,  it 
would  be  quite  easy  to  write  a  dialogue.  But  to 
make  question  and  answer  reflect  the  actual  conflict 
of  life  with  its  varying  moods  of  superstitious  fear 
and  reasonable  faith,  that  is  not  easy.  This  dia- 
logue brings  the  life  of  man  face  to  face  with  the 
life  of  God.  Here  we  have  real  genius  consecrated 
to  the  service  of  God  and  man.  The  prophetic  inspi- 
ration manifests  itself  powerfully  and  the  result  is 
a  dialogue,  showing  in  its  form  a  dignified  sim- 
plicity, and  presenting  in  substance  a  picture  of  the 


JEHOVAH'S  PLEA  143 

patience  of  God  wrestling  with  man's  culpable  igno- 
rance and  perverse  unbelief.  When  we  say,  then, 
that  the  passage  is  dramatic  we  mean  that,  in  spite 
of  its  brevity,  it  has  a  living  movement;  it  is  not 
dogmatic  statement,  but  subtle  suggestion  of  great 
truths ;  it  advances  with  sure,  steady  step  to  its  noble 
climax. 

THE  CONTROVERSY. 

The  voice  of  Jehovah  calls  the  prophet  to  conduct 
this  significant  controversy.  Then  the  prophet  sum- 
mons as  witnesses  the  mountains,  the  strong  founda- 
tions of  the  earth.  Now  the  court  is  open,  and  we 
hear  the  voice  of  God  setting  forth  His  side  of  the 
case  in  tender,  pleading  tones.  "O  my  people,  what 
have  I  done  unto  thee?  Wherein  have  I  wearied  thee? 
Testify  against  me,  for  I  brought  thee  out  of  the  land 
of  Egypt  and  redeemed  thee  out  of  the  house  of 
bondage;  I  sent  before  thee  Moses  and  Aaron  and 
Miriam."  The  charge  is  not  rudely  rebutted;  an 
attempt  is  made  to  break  the  force  of  it  by  the 
counter-plea  of  ignorance ;  lack  of  knowledge,  rather 
than  want  of  will,  is  the  cause  of  failure.  The  peo- 
ple declare  that  they  are  willing  to  give  any  costly 
sacrifice  if  only  they  may  gain  the  favor  of  their 
God.  They  evidently  do  not  see  that  this  is  repeating 
the  reproach  in  another  form,  suggesting  that  the 
crookedness  of  their  life  is  fully  accounted  for  by 
the  dimness  of  the  light  that  their  God  has  shed 
upon  their  path.  The  prophet,  therefore,  closes  the 
case  with  the  great  declaration  that  makes  all  evasion 
and  excuse  seem  small ;  what  is  needed,  he  declares, 
is  not  more  knowledge  of  historical  facts,  legal  pre- 


144    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

cepts,  and  ritual  ordinances,  but  recognition  of  real- 
ity, insight  into  the  nature  of  God's  demands,  sur- 
render of  the  soul  in  that  true  spirit  of  loyalty 
which  delights  "to  do  justice,  love  mercy  and  walk 
humbly  with  thy  God." 

FORM   AND   SUBSTANCE. 

To  have  this  and  similar  passages  of  Scripture 
printed  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  quite  clear  their 
literary  structure  is  no  doubt  very  helpful,  and  goes 
far  towards  suggesting  the  right  interpretation.  But 
admiration  of  the  mere  form,  however  artistic  that 
may  be,  is  not  the  supreme  and  final  thing.  We  are 
now  beginning  to  see  that  the  points  of  view  repre- 
sented by  the  words  "Revelation"  and  "Literature" 
are  not  contradictory,  but  complementary.  The 
modern  preacher  may  well  learn  a  lesson  from  the 
ancient  prophet  in  the  art  of  presenting  great  truths 
in  attractive,  winning  forms.  Beauty  and  symmetry 
of  form  are  by  no  means  to  be  despised,  even  by 
the  messenger  of  God ;  but  let  us  remember  that  the 
greatest  literature  is  never  created  by  those  whose 
chief  concern  is  with  the  outward  form.  The  living 
message  moulds  for  itself  the  form  that  is  appropriate 
and  effective.  Literature  worthy  of  the  name  is  the 
outcome  of  noble  life,  and  it  is  in  the  movement  of 
actual  life  that  we  meet  the  revelation  of  God.  This 
passage  of  Scripture  is  clearly  a  revelation  of  life,  on 
many  of  its  sides.  The  several  spheres  which  we 
define  more  sharply  as  nature,  history  and  human 
experience  are  to  the  prophet  made  one  kingdom  by 
the  presence  of  the  divine  life.  Because  the  God  in 
whom  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being  sheds 


JEHOVAH'S  PLEA  145 

the  light  of  His  presence  and  the  warmth  of  His 
love  through  all  these  regions,  the  literature  which 
reflects  the  deepest  life  of  man  may  be  the  medium 
of  His  revelation,  and  prepare  the  way  for  the  high- 
est manifestation  in  the  man  Christ  Jesus. 

Thus  through  an  intelligent  grasp  of  the  struc- 
ture of  this  passage  we  see  more  clearly  the  truths 
revealed.  It  reveals  the  heart  of  the  prophet,  the 
inward  life  of  the  man  of  God  who  hungers  after 
the  divine  righteousness  and  sorrows  over  the  sins 
of  his  fellow-men.  It  reveals  a  particular  stage  of 
the  conflict  between  true  and  false  religion ;  the 
prophet  does  not  play  with  fancy  pictures  or  sug- 
gest improbable  suppositions ;  he  is  face  to  face 
with  actual  experience.  Here  we  see  how  a  certain 
class  of  men  in  that  age  by  their  superstitious  be- 
wilderment were  driven  to  think  of  heroic  service 
and  supreme  sacrifice.  This  dialogue  finally  reveals 
the  gracious  guidance,  the  large  generosity,  the  per- 
sistent patience  and  pity  of  Israel's  God. 

This  is  revelation,  and  it  is  also  a  part  of  the  his- 
tory of  revelation.  The  sun  does  not  rise  with  one 
swift  stroke  and  reach  in  an  instant  its  meridian 
splendour,  though  sometimes  it  bursts  with  unex- 
pected brilliance  through  the  thick,  dark  clouds. 
Neither  can  the  full-orbed  truth  come  to  a  man  or  a 
people  all  at  once.  The  path  of  revelation  is,  to 
those  who  can  recognize  it,  like  that  of  the  sun  shin- 
ing more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day.  Many 
great  teachers  had  to  live  and  do  their  work  before 
it  was  possible  for  a  man  to  utter  this  great  speech, 
and  even  in  its  noble  suggestiveness  it  is  not  final ;  it 
marks  a  stage  in  the  long  upward  journey;  it  is  a 


146    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

prophecy  of  and  a  preparation  for  the  still  greater 
future. 

jehovah's   plea. 

The  controversy  between  God  and  His  people  is 
often  represented  as  a  matter  of  universal  interest 
and  solemn  import,  but  it  gains  here  a  special  mani- 
festation of  tenderness.  God  draws  near,  not  with 
the  sternness  that  severe  judgment  seems  to  de- 
mand, but  in  pleading,  persuasive  tones.  He  could 
come  in  the  terrible  storm  and  make  a  quick  end  of 
an  ungrateful  people,  but  He  prefers  to  knock  at 
the  door  of  the  heart  in  this  gentle  fashion.  He 
comes  in  mercy  to  His  people;  He  will  draw  them 
with  the  cords  of  a  man,  and  with  plaintive  appeal 
win  them  to  penitence.  At  a  time  when  religion 
among  the  surrounding  tribes  was  savage  and  sen- 
sual, when  many  even  in  Israel  thought  of  their  God 
as  a  cruel,  blood-thirsty  tyrant,  this  is  the  vision  of 
the  true  prophet.  He  sees  a  God  of  whom  it  may  be 
rightly  said,  "Mercy  is  His  delight."  The  question 
trembles  through  his  soul  as  with  mingled  pity  and 
indignation  he  presents  the  divine  plea :  "Have  I, 
the  living,  helpful  God,  really  been  a  burden  instead 
of  an  inspiration  and  strength  to  you,  my  people?" 
Has  the  Father  of  the  nation  worn  out  the  patience 
and  power  of  His  people  by  cold  neglect  or  cruel 
demands  ?  There  is  boldness  in  so  presenting  God's 
plea — the  boldness  of  the  inspired  man,  who  knows 
how  to  startle  men  by  the  clear  expression  of  their 
own  thoughts.  For  such  a  man  the  truth  must  not 
be  enslaved  by  any  respectable,  conventional  form  in 
which  it  has  been  enshrined.     Let  us,  he  seems  to 


JEHOVAH'S  PLEA  147 

say,  carry  our  half-hearted  unbelief  to  its  legitimate 
conclusion  and  see  what  it  really  means.  The  clear 
statement  of  the  question  brings  us  a  long  way  to- 
wards the  right  answer.  Surely  the  suggestion  is 
false ;  this  God  is  the  Redeemer  of  His  people ;  He 
is  the  same  Lord  who  inspired  an  earlier  prophet 
to  say:  "When  Israel  was  a  child,  then  I  loved  him 
and  called  my  son  out  of  Egypt."    (Hosea  xi.  1.) 

This  principle  of  the  highest  religious  life  stated 
by  the  Apostle  John,  "We  love  because  He  first 
loved  us,"  receives  its  full  revelation,  and  its  deep 
mystic  meaning  in  the  life  of  the  Son  of  man  and 
the  teaching  of  His  apostles,  but  in  an  earlier,  sim- 
pler form  it  is  found  in  the  old  Covenant.  This 
evangelical  principle  that  God's  love  is  first,  and  that 
religion  is  man's  loyal  response  to  the  divine  com- 
passion, received  its  first  application  to  the  national 
life  of  this  favoured  people.  The  great  command- 
ments, the  "ten  words,"  are  not  to  be  regarded  as 
mere  legalism ;  they  should  be  read  in  the  light  of 
the  sublime  preamble,  "I  am  Jehovah  thy  God, 
which  have  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt." 
Thus  in  the  early  days  men  were  taught  to  treat 
history  as  a  sacred  book,  in  which  the  love  of  the 
Eternal  God  was  written  in  large,  living  letters. 

The  gift  of  great  leaders  is  also  a  revelation  of 
God,  and  lays  men  under  heavy  responsibility.  No 
great  nation  was  ever  built  up  except  through  the 
toils  and  sacrifices  of  heroic  men  and  noble  women. 
Moses,  Aaron  and  Miriam  are  types ;  they  stand  at 
the  beginning  of  a  great  movement,  and  they  are 
followed  by  "a  great  cloud  of  witnesses."  Whether 
we  keep  a  calendar  and  observe  saint's-days  or  not, 


148    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

we  must  try  to  remember  how  much  we  owe  to  the 
long  succession  of  faithful  witnesses,  and  we  should 
often  endeavour  to  realize  how,  through  them,  we 
are  linked  to  the  life  of  God  and  heaven.  In  the  dark- 
est days  there  were  those  who  heard  the  Divine 
voice,  who  kept  alive  the  lamp  of  life,  and  who  "en- 
dured as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible."  Not  through 
silent,  empty  spaces  does  the  great  message  travel 
down  to  us  from  the  distant  past,  but  through  the 
sacred  ministries  of  men  and  women  who  knew  well 
life's  perplexing  problems  and  tormenting  passions, 
and  who  knew,  also,  that  in  spite  of  their  weakness 
God  gave  them  strength  for  abiding  service.  " 

THE  REPLY. 

Can  anything  be  said  in  reply  to  this  searching 
plea?  Is  there  any  way  open  save  silence  and 
shame?  The  reply  represents  that  the  people  are 
not  ungrateful,  but  ignorant;  they  believe  in  God, 
but  do  not  know  the  right  way  of  approach  to  His 
throne.  If  the  question,  "What  must  we  do  to  be 
saved?"  can  be  clearly  answered,  they  are  willing 
to  do  anything  that  will  win  the  favor  of  the  divine 
King.  They  will  give  of  their  choicest  possession, 
yea,  even  surrender  their  beloved  children  in  literal 
sacrifice — "the  fruit  of  my  body  for  the  sin  of  my 
soul."  In  our  soft,  easy  times  we  are  inclined  to 
think  that  this  is  merely  an  effective  rhetorical 
touch  on  the  part  of  the  preacher.  Not  so !  Relig- 
ion was  in  those  days  a  thing  of  tremendous  import, 
a  matter  of  life  and  death  to  many  people;  they  laid 
rich  gifts  upon  the  altars,  they  spent  much  time  and 
strength  in  fasts  and  festivals.     Stricken  by  keen 


JEHOVAH'S  PLEA  149 

remorse  or  haunted  by  grim  despair,  they  were  will- 
ing literally  to  sacrifice  their  own  flesh  and  blood. 
Cannot  the  great  God,  then,  be  content  with  this? 
No !  The  reply  is  hollow  and  helpless  ;  it  only  aggra- 
vates the  original  offence.  He  has  come  to  them  in 
so  many  ways,  and  yet  they  know  not  how  to  ap- 
proach Him  !  Faithful  prophets  have  fought  against 
their  coarse  superstition,  and  yet  they  cling  to  it,  and 
allow  it  to  bring  blindness  and  confusion.  History 
is  full  of  the  manifestations  of  His  kindness,  and  yet 
they  think  of  Him  as  seeking  His  own  glory  at  the 
expense  of  their  degradation.  What  they  need  is 
not  more  knowledge  of  ritual,  but  clearer  insight 
into  life.  The  sacrifice  that  God  desires  is  obedience 
to  the  law  of  life,  the  self-surrender  through  which 
men  come  to  purity,  strength  and  usefulness. 

THE   TRUE   IDEAL  OF   SERVICE. 

"He  hath  showed  thee,  O  man,  what  is  good." 
The  revelation  has  already  been  given  in  many  ways. 
Our  prophet  does  not  claim  originality,  in  the  sense 
of  uttering  startling,  sensational  novelties.  He  is 
original  in  the  only  worthy  sense ;  he  can  see  into 
the  heart  of  things ;  he  can  rightly  interpret  God*s 
dealings  in  the  past  and  apply  this  teaching  to  the 
living  present ;  he  can  realize  the  deep  gulf  that  sep- 
arates popular  superstition  from  pure  religion.  Re- 
ligion is  not  to  him  a  history,  but  a  present  life.  He 
prizes  the  record  of  what  God  has  done,  because  it 
is  the  revelation  of  what  He  is  still  doing.  The 
Eternal  God  is  always  coming  near  with  new  mes- 
sages of  love  and  new  manifestations  of  kindness. 

The  picture  has  clear,  strong  light  over  against 


150    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

the  deep,  dark  shadows.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was 
in  the  saddest  hours  of  Israel's  history  that  ihe  rad- 
ical opposition  between  the  two  views  of  God,  the 
popular  and  the  prophetic  views  of  religion,  came 
out  most  clearly.  In  the  gloomy  reign  of  Manas- 
seh,  and  in  the  dark  days  just  before  the  Exile,  the 
popular  superstition  went  to  the  most  frightful  ex- 
tremes. Those  who  thought  of  Jehovah  as  a  cruel, 
capricious  tyrant  were  driven  to  dark  deeds;  they 
yielded  to  despair  and  gave  way  to  debasing  forms 
of  idolatrous  worship.  But  at  that  very  time  the 
sure  word  of  prophecy  reached  its  loftiest  height ; 
the  righteousness  of  God  was  seen  to  be  free  from 
all  national  and  sectarian  limitations;  the  very  dis- 
order of  the  outside  world  became  the  means  of 
making  clearer  the  vision  of  the  spiritual  kingdom ; 
the  true  nature  of  religion  as  loyalty  to  God  and 
service  to  man  shone  out  in  clearer,  brighter  light. 

In  such  light  we  must  view  this  noble  summary 
of  prophetic  teaching — "to  do  justly,  to  love  mercy, 
and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God."  Amos  had 
cried,  "Let  judgment  run  down  as  waters,  and 
righteousness  as  a  mighty  stream."  Hosea's  cen- 
tral thought  is,  "I  desired  mercy  and  not  sacrifice." 
Isaiah  showed  how  the  vision  of  the  King  brings 
that  true  lowliness  which  is  the  beginning  of  real 
greatness.  Woven  together  these  thoughts  make  a 
noble  creed,  which  speaks  of  worship,  communion 
and  service.  Personal  purity  and  civic  righteousness, 
devoutness  of  temper,  and  honourableness  of  life, 
humility  in  the  hour  of  worship  and  strength  in  the 
face  of  duty — all  this  and  more  they  suggest.  De- 
tailed exposition  of  such  a  simple,  sublime  statement 


JEHOVAH'S  PLEA  151 

seems  almost  an  impertinence.  Sufficient  now  to 
say  that  reading  it  in  the  light  of  our  Saviour's 
life,  it  may  mean  even  more  to  us  than  to  the 
ancient  prophet,  because  our  world  is  larger,  our 
problems  more  complex,  our  temptations  more 
subtle,  our  duties  more  varied.  During  the  inter- 
vening centuries  individual  experience  has  been 
deepened  and  religion  has  assumed  new  social  as- 
pects, but  if  we  will  take  these  words  to  our  heart 
with  real  desire  to  learn  what  is  meant  by  loyalty 
to  God  and  kindness  to  men,  they  will  lead  us  into 
the  way  of  sacrifice  and  of  peace. 


THE  PROPHET'S   KINGLY  IDEAL 


"It  may  therefore  be  affirmed  that  Christ's  kingdom  is 
a  true  brotherhood  founded  in  devotion  and  self-sacrifice. 
Nothing  less,  indeed,  would  have  satisfied  those  disciples 
who  had  begun  to  feel  the  spell  of  his  character.  A  philo- 
sophic school  or  sect  may  found  itself  on  the  prudential 
instincts  of  man,  may  attach  empty  hearts,  and  attach 
them  by  a  loose  bond  to  each  other.  But  a  kingdom  stands 
on  self-devotion,  and  the  hearts  of  Christ's  disciples  were 
not  empty.  They  had  not  gathered  themselves  round  him 
to  be  told  how  they  might  avoid  the  evils  of  life,  but  to 
know  what  they  might  do  for  him,  how  they  might  prove 
their  loyalty  to  him.  It  was  the  art  of  self-devotion  that 
they  wished  to  learn,  and  he  taught  as  a  master  teaches, 
not  sparing  words  but  resting  most  on  deeds,  by  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount,  but  also  by  the  Agony  and  the  Cruci- 
fixion."— "Ecce  Homo." 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  PROPHET'S   KINGLY  IDEAL 

(Micah  v.  1-3;  Isaiah  xi.  1-9.) 
Many  careful,  conscientious  students  of  the  Old 
Testament  regard  it  as  proved  that  the  prophecies 
of  the  Messianic  King  in  these  two  books  belong 
to  the  time  when  the  Kingdom  of  Judah  was  de- 
stroyed and  the  successors  of  David  no  longer  sat 
upon  the  throne.  In  that  case  these  pictures  of  a 
glorious  future  were  part  of  God's  message  of  com- 
fort to  a  broken-hearted  and  dispirited  people.  We 
cannot  now  discuss  that  question  in  detail ;  even  if 
we  were  driven  to  accept  that  conclusion  it  would 
only  deepen  our  impression  as  to  the  vitality  of  a 
faith  which  after  such  dark  disaster  could  rise  to 
such  sublime  heights.  Our  present  concern  is  with 
the  passage  in  Micah,  but  it  is  well  to  place  by  the 
side  of  the  short  suggestive  statement  the  fuller, 
richer  prophecies  which  are  preserved  for  us  in  the 
book  that  bears  the  name  of  the  great  Isaiah. 
These  prophecies  have  found  an  appropriate  place  in 
a  book  that  is  arranged  for  practical  rather  than 
scientific  purposes.  The  picture  of  a  lowly  King 
from  Bethlehem,  the  small  country  town,  links  on 
naturally  to  the  teaching  of  Micah  the  peasant 
prophet,  while  the  other  pieces  have  a  similar  rela- 

155 


156    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

tionship  to  Isaiah's  teaching  and  style.  The  ques- 
tion as  to  the  exact  date  of  such  pieces  is  important 
from  many  points  of  view,  but  it  is  not  for  us  now 
the  chief  thing,  as  we  are  not  seeking  to  settle  the 
precise  course  that  was  pursued  by  the  development 
of  the  Messianic  idea,  but  to  examine  in  various 
lights  the  faith  that  lies  behind  it.  When  such 
prophecies  were  produced  in  Israel  inspiration  was 
still  active;  faith  was  living  and  creative. 

The  real  moment  of  a  nation's  greatness  is  when 
it  has  a  noble  heroic  past,  and  yet  looks  forward  to 
a  great  living  future.  So  long  as  prophecy  was 
alive  in  Israel  the  past  had  real  meaning  and  the 
future  was  full  of  hope.  It  is  a  striking  thing,  the 
significance  of  which  we  do  well  to  ponder,  that 
when  Judaism  rejected  Jesus  there  was  no  more 
real  growth.  The  possessions  from  the  past  were 
carefully  preserved  and  mechanically  copied,  com- 
mentaries enlarged  and  rules  multiplied ;  all  this  car- 
ried to  wearisome  lengths  and  ridiculous  refine- 
ments, but  no  real  creative  force  or  divine  inspira- 
tion. This  suggests  that  they  rejected  the  One  who 
was  able  to  interpret  their  noble  past,  and  give  it  a 
real  spiritual  meaning,  so  that  it  should  be  capable 
of  new  and  higher  forms  of  expression.  And  yet 
the  reason  for  His  rejection  was  that  he  was  so 
utterly  unlike  a  real  king;  or,  in  other  words,  that 
He  did  not  literally  embody  the  prophetic  pictures 
of  the  Messiah.  Is  not  this  a  warning  against  cru- 
cifying the  prophets  by  treating  the  noble  poetry  in 
which  they  have  expressed  warm  living  faith  as  if 
it  were  a  narrow  political  formula,  or  a  cold  dogma  ? 

The  prophets  were  not  simply  preachers  in  the 


PROPHET'S  KINGLY  IDEAL         157 

sense  of  warning  their  fellow-men  against  immedi- 
ate dangers  and  calling  them  to  present  duties. 
They  were  men  with  a  clear,  calm  outlook  into  the 
future.  If  they  did  not  construct  almanacs  in  a 
mechanical  manner,  they  declared  the  great  realities 
of  salvation  which  the  future,  governed  by  the  gra- 
cious God  who  had  guided  the  past,  held  in  store. 
Their  central  purpose  and  constant  aim  is  to  make 
men  feel  the  presence  of  a  living  God.  To  them 
history  is  a  living  movement  hastening  onward  to 
its  goal.  They  have  the  assurance  that  Jehovah  will 
not  utterly  forsake  His  people,  but  after  dark,  dis- 
tressful days  the  light  and  glory  of  His  presence 
will  be  made  known.  But  faith,  when  sketching  its 
picture  of  the  future,  must  draw  its  imagery  from 
earlier  days.  The  artist  who  paints  a  glowing  pic- 
ture of  the  future  must  dip  his  brush  in  the  golden 
colours  of  the  past.  The  real  thing,  however,  is 
the  faith ;  the  form,  though  important,  is  subordi- 
nate ;  it  may  vary  with  the  individual  teacher  and 
may  take  on  various  shades  of  local  colour. 

History  repeats  itself.  God  will  again  send 
David  and  Elijah  (Ezekiel  xxxiv.  24;  Mai.  iv.  5). 
That  is  true,  but  the  repetitions  of  history  are  not 
mechanical  and  monotonous.  The  same  principle 
reappears,  but  not  in  precisely  the  same  form.  New 
leaders  and  reformers  come  with  the  spirit  and 
power  of  the  old,  but  with  their  own  individuality ; 
with  higher  truth  and  loftier  speech.  David  was 
God's  gift  to  the  nation.  With  all  his  imperfections 
he  played  the  man  and  did  a  noble  work.  God  will 
bring  him  back  again,  but  the  new  David  must  meet 
new  conditions,  possess  a  wider  dominion  and  exer- 


158    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

cise  a  nobler  sway.  We  cannot  get  back  again  to 
the  old  simple  forms  of  life,  but  God  will  give 
purity  of  heart  and  real  simplicity  of  spirit.  Reli- 
gion must  face  new  sciences  and  meet  new  social 
needs;  it  must  conquer  and  consecrate  the  noblest 
civilization. 

From  a  small  place  and  out  of  lowly  circumstances 
the  new  king  must  come.  From  the  simple  life  of 
the  country  new  blood  must  come  to  revive  and 
maintain  the  wasting  life  of  the  city.  The  prophet 
means  that,  but  much  more.  Many  of  the  proph- 
ets hated  the  life  of  the  city,  with  its  feverish  rush, 
its  sham  splendour,  its  lust  and  greed  and  cruelty. 
They  looked  back  to  the  simple  village  from  which 
the  great  king  had  come  as  a  place  fit  to  be  visited  by 
God  and  to  be  made  a  source  of  new  blessing.  The 
prophet,  even  in  his  rustic  preferences,  manifests 
a  great  principle.  He  shows  himself  a  true  idealist 
and  a  real  philosopher.  He  is  not  awed  by  pom- 
pous splendour;  he  does  not  worship  bigness.  Not 
by  extent  of  territory,  number  of  population  or  vast- 
ness  of  wealth  can  you  measure  the  strength  or 
glory  of  a  nation.  Bethlehem  may  mean  more  to 
the  highest  life  of  the  world  than  Babylon.  The 
prophet's  simple  ideal  rebukes  our  noisy  pride  and 
pours  contempt  upon  our  vulgar  worship  of  worldly 
success.  This  is  the  real  simplicity  and  strength  of 
faith,  but  we  may  see  more  clearly  than  the  prophet 
did  that  God's  new  beginning  is  never  a  mere  going 
back.    God's  new  king  is  the  heir  of  all  the  past. 

The  ideal  of  kingship  is  a  noble  one.  The  King 
must  combine  in  himself  capacity  and  character; 
service  to  God  and  kindness  to  men.    He  will  be  a 


PROPHET'S  KINGLY  IDEAL         159 

true  shepherd  of  his  people.  How  much  the  people 
had  suffered  from  unworthy  kings,  men  that  were 
weak  or  wicked,  princes  that  possessed  no  insight 
for  statesmanship,  no  ability  to  rule,  no  power  to  in- 
spire !  No  wonder  that  they  were  sometimes  led  to 
think  of  a  king  as  a  curse  for  their  punishment, 
rather  than  a  blessing  for  their  healing.  (1  Sam.  viii. 
7.)  And  yet  they  felt  that  a  noble  king  would  be 
a  great  blessing;  one  anointed  by  God  and  en- 
dowed with  great  gifts,  to  be  used  not  for  his  own 
glory,  but  for  the  service  of  mankind,  would  be  in 
a  very  true  sense  the  representative  of  God  on  earth. 
To  such  a  king  shall  be  given  widespread  domin- 
ion and  lasting  influence,  and  to  his  people  peace. 
"He  shall  stand  and  feed  his  flock  in  the  strength  of 
Jehovah,  in  the  majesty  of  the  name  of  Jehovah 
his  God ;  and  they  shall  abide  and  he  shall  be 
great  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth."  The  essen- 
tial thing  in  these  prophecies  is  the  perception  of 
the  character  of  a  real  king,  the  ideal  of  faith  soar- 
ing far  above  anything  that  the  prophet  had  ever 
seen.  God  gave  these  noble  thoughts  to  His  hoping, 
hungering  servants  that  they  might  proclaim  the 
glory  and  prepare  for  the  coming  of  the  true  King. 
But  there  are  limitations  and  these  become  a  test 
of  faith  in  after  ages.  This  is  a  king  like  David, 
with  nobler  life  and  larger  influence.  But  with  all 
the  spiritual  beauty  there  is  still  a  suggestion  of 
worldly  form  and  political  surroundings.  We  can 
now  joyfully  recognize  that  no  king  sitting  upon 
an  earthly  throne  or  political  kingdom  with  its 
centre  at  Jerusalem  can  meet  the  need  of  humanity. 
We  can  find  within  the  Old  Testament  itself  large 


160    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

universal  elements  that  were  striving  to  break 
through  all  such  narrow  bonds.  We  know  that  our 
Lord  was  rejected  because  He  was  a  greater  king 
than  even  the  prophet  had  dreamed  of,  but  from  the 
vulgar  eye  His  divinity  was  hidden  by  the  lowliness 
of  His  life.  The  prophecy  is  fulfilled,  but  the  fulfil- 
ment is  a  large  and  ever  growing  life ;  not  an  exact 
and  literal  reproduction  of  the  ancient  picture,  but 
an  incarnation  of  the  spirit  that  was  then  seeking 
to  express  itself.  The  teacher  who  could  say,  "My 
kingdom  is  not  of  this  world,"  and  who  inspired 
his  disciples  to  utter  the  daily  prayer,  "Thy  King- 
dom come,"  will  create  for  himself  a  wider  do- 
minion and  a  nobler  spiritual  influence  than  the 
world  has  yet  seen.  In  His  service  men  find  free- 
dom; at  His  cross  they  receive  the  gift  of  peace; 
through  His  inspiration  they  claim  all  spheres  of 
activity  for  God ;  in  His  presence  they  learn  that 
every  kingly  capacity  brings  power  and  responsi- 
bility for  gentlest  ministry. 


THE  PROPHET  AS  A  FAILURE 


"Jeremiah  is  not  a  master-spirit  like  Isaiah,  who,  since 
he  had  seen  the  king  Jehovah  in  his  majesty,  paid  respect 
to  nothing  else  in  the  world,  and  faced  even  the  blood  and 
iron  Assyrian  with  Olympic  calm.  Nor  has  he  anything 
in  common  with  the  primitive  Amos  who  is  summoned  to 
mighty  speech  by  Jehovah's  angry  roar.  He  is  most 
closely  related  to  the  thoughtful  Hosea,  they  are  both 
characterized  by  depth  of  soul  and  richness  of  inward 
life.  Both  suffer  severely  from  the  circumstances  in  which 
they  are  placed,  but  both  refuse  in  the  same  dignified 
manner  to  be  crushed  by  them,  rather  they  gain  strength 
to  read  in  them  thoughts  of  God  which  have  become  the 
imperishable  possession  of  religion.  As  Hosea  made  use 
of  the  ancient  history  of  the  people  in  preaching  to  his 
contemporaries,  so  Jeremiah  willingly  appealed  to  the 
old  time  and  directed  the  people  to  the  earlier  paths,  to 
the  days  of  first  love,  and  set  before  them  how  much  care 
Jehovah  had  lavished  upon  them  through  long  centuries, 
so  that  he  might  constantly  remind  Israel  of  his  duty.  He 
placed  before  the  eyes  of  the  rebellious  the  ruins  of  the 
Shiloh  Sanctuary  as  a  witness  of  God's  earnestness  in 
chastisement.  History  should  teach  his  prophetic  oppo- 
nents what  a  true  prophet  is,  if  they  will  not  believe  his 
statement." — D.  G.  Giesebrecht. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE  PROPHET  AS  A  FAILURE 

(Jer.  xviii.  18-21.) 

The  life  of  Jeremiah  has  many  sides,  and  here 
we  meet  the  plaintive  prophet  in  one  of  his  most 
sorrowful  and  despairing  moods.  There  is  a  "per- 
sonal equation"  to  be  considered  in  dealing  with 
Jeremiah,  as  is  the  case  with  every  man  of  strongly 
marked  individuality.  His  utterances  are  neces- 
sarily coloured  by  his  sensitive,  shrinking  nature. 
But  there  is  no  exaggeration  in  the  statement  he 
makes  regarding  the  opposition  provoked  by  his 
ministry.  Many  were  ready  to  smite  him  with 
something  more  brutal,  if  not  more  bitter  than 
words.  The  popular  view  of  this  prophet  is  that  of 
a  man  who  was  always  uttering  violent  denuncia- 
tions against  his  fellow-citizens,  or  clamorously  be- 
sieging the  court  of  Heaven  with  harsh  complaint 
against  the  stupidity  and  hard-heartedness  of  his 
hearers.  That  there  is  some  truth  in  this  view  it 
would  be  vain  to  deny,  but  when  we  look  at  that 
side  alone  we  do  injustice  to  a  great  man. 

This  man's  life  and  ministry  would  not  have  re- 
ceived such  a  large  share  of  the  sacred  volume  if 
it  did  not  possess  deep  and  permanent  significance. 
Though  a  man  of  uncommon  sensitiveness,  strange 
163 


164    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

melancholy  and  deep  despondency,  he  was  also  a 
man  of  firm  faith  and  strong  character.  He  is 
a  type  of  the  Highest  Man  in  that  for  righteous- 
ness' sake  he  was  "a  man  of  sorrows  and  acquaint- 
ed with  grief."  This  is  not  to  claim  perfection  for 
the  prophet ;  he  had,  indeed,  the  limitations  and 
the  weaknesses  of  the  very  qualities  that  made  him 
strong.  He  may  at  times  have  given  too  much 
way  to  his  naturally  sad  disposition;  he  may 
have  failed  to  see  the  little  good  there  was  in  his 
opponents ;  the  completeness  of  his  consecration  and 
the  fervour  of  his  zeal  may  sometimes  have  made 
him  one-sided.  This  is  simply  to  say  that  Jere- 
miah was  a  man,  but  a  sympathetic  study  of  his  ca- 
reer will  show  that  even  his  mistakes  spring  from 
his  intense  zeal  in  the  true  service  of  God.  Even  if 
in  some  things  his  tone  and  temper  seem  to  fall 
short  of  the  Christian  ideal,  we  are  compelled  to' 
admit  that  his  whole  life  is  a  strenuous  struggle 
after  righteousness.  We  deal  now  with  only  one 
aspect  of  that  life,  the  one  we  have  noted  at  the 
head  of  the  chapter,  "The  Prophet  as  a  Failure." 

THE  KIND  OF   FAILURE. 

Our  first  need  is  to  grasp  clearly  the  nature  of 
the  failure  which  at  first  view  seems  to  blight  this 
man's  life.  It  was  not  a  business  failure;  that  is  a 
hard  thing  for  an  honest  man.  To  sow  and  not 
to  reap ;  to  be  diligent  and  yet  unsuccessful ;  to 
fail  in  the  face  of  fierce  competition  ;  to  see  the  fabric 
that  one  has  slowly  reared  suddenly  shattered ; 
surely  there  is  heart-breaking  bitterness  in  this  ex- 
perience.   It  was  not  merely  political  failure.     The 


PROPHET  AS  A  FAILURE  165 

prophet  was  a  patriotic  man  who  took  the  keenest 
interest  in  public  affairs  and  who  ought,  on  account 
of  his  ability  and  integrity,  to  have  had  political 
influence.  But  the  loss  of  position  and  direct  in- 
fluence did  not  move  him  most.  Others  were  wel- 
come to  place  and  power  if  only  he  could  see  right 
principles  prevail.  Neither  was  it  the  failure  that 
we  generally  associate  with  the  thought  of  poverty. 
It  is  not  a  pleasant  thing  to  be  poor,  though  it  is 
sometimes  easy  to  discuss  that  experience  from  a 
high  poetic  standpoint.  The  reality  is  grim  and 
sad.  To  have  one's  poverty  pressing  as  a  daily 
burden ;  to  be  hampered  by  petty  limitations ;  to  be 
haunted  by  continual  reminders  of  the  hard  fact ; 
this  also  is  painful  even  to  the  man  who  is  seeking 
first  the  kingdom  of  God.  This  man  did  not  desire 
great  riches ;  a  little  of  this  world's  goods  would 
suffice  for  him,  for  he  was  quite  content  with  "plain 
living  and  high  thinking."  Besides  he  seems  to 
have  had  some  little  property,  which  in  less  troubled 
days  would  have  supplied  all  his  needs.  When 
Jeremiah  is  regarded  as  a  type  of  a  certain  kind 
of  failure  it  is  not  for  the  purpose  of  giving  prom- 
inence to  any  of  these  common  forms  of  suffering. 
What  is  meant  is  that  he  was  a  rejected  preacher,  a 
man  with  an  unpopular  message.  He  was  regarded 
as  a  dismal  prophet,  a  public  nuisance ;  a  preacher 
who  had  no  sweet  gospel  but  only  dark  sayings  and 
gloomy  forebodings. 

THE    STRENUOUS    LIFE. 

In  the  thirteenth  year  of  King  Josiah  Jeremiah  re- 
ceived his  call  to  the  prophetic  office   (b.  c.  629). 


166    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

From  that  time  to  his  death  is  reckoned  about  forty 
years.  During  his  long  ministry  he  saw  five  different 
kings  on  the  throne  of  Judah,  some  of  them  having 
a  short  as  well  as  a  troubled  reign.  We  have  very 
little  information  concerning  the  first  eighteen  years 
of  this  ministry,  but  after  that  we  can  see  him  en- 
gaged in  active  work,  denouncing  wickedness,  giv- 
ing counsel  and  uttering  warnings.  Then  we  see 
him  opposed  by  his  kindred,  persecuted  by  his 
townsmen,  and  threatened  by  the  rulers.  In  later 
days  the  history  is  full  of  striking  pictures,  all  of 
which  represent  some  aspect  of  the  great  tragedy. 
Jehoiakim,  the  frivolous  king,  sits  in  his  winter 
chamber,  surrounded  by  time-serving  courtiers,  and 
he  takes  the  book  of  prophecies,  into  which  the 
prophet  has  poured  his  life-blood,  and  casts  it  bit 
by  bit  contemptuously  into  the  fire.  Again  we  see 
the  prophet,  the  noblest  man  of  his  age,  with  feet 
thrust  into  the  stocks,  subjected  to  the  most  shame- 
ful degradation.  Or  once  more  we  behold  the  true 
patriot  thrown  as  a  traitor  into  the  foul  dungeon. 
He  proved  that  there  are  worse  things  than  death, 
hence  when  death  seemed  very  near  his  thought  was 
for  others,  not  for  himself:  "But  as  for  me,  behold 
I  am  in  your  hand ;  do  with  me  as  is  good  and  right 
in  your  eyes.  Only  know  ye  for  certain  that,  if  ye 
put  me  to  death,  ye  shall  bring  innocent  blood  upon 
yourselves,  and  upon  this  city,  and  upon  the  inhab- 
itants thereof;  for  of  a  truth  Jehovah  hath  sent 
me  unto  you  to  speak  all  these  words  in  your  ears." 
(xxvi.  15.)  Saddest  picture  of  all  to  see  the  ven- 
erable prophet,  when  he  had  declined  to  take  refuge 
in  Babylon,  dragged  off  to  Egypt  by  a  few  miser- 


PROPHET  AS  A  FAILURE  167 

able,  superstitious  rebels  to  die  in  a  land  that  he  had 
despised.  The  brief  sketch  thus  crowded  into  a  few 
sentences  represents  a  long  life  of  incessant  toil  and 
constant  pain.  We  think  we  have  our  share  of  sor- 
row, but  how  our  small  pains  and  petty  persecutions 
shrink  in  the  presence  of  this  great  martyrdom ! 
It  is  true  that  we  do  now  meet  men  who  carry  a 
tremendous  burden  of  woe  and  disappointment,  but 
a  life  so  utterly  sad  is  rare.  Other  prophets  were 
rejected  and  persecuted,  but  with  none  of  them  was 
the  long  sustained  battle  on  the  whole  so  full  of 
gloom  as  with  this  man,  whose  very  name  has  be- 
come a  synonym  of  wailing  and  lamentation.  Ac- 
cording to  the  ordinary  social  standard  he  failed 
utterly  and  hopelessly.  When  we  think  that  we  are 
unfairly  treated,  that  the  world  is  blind  to  our 
merits,  and  that  our  noblest  efforts  yield  small 
results,  we  may  do  well  to  look  once  more  on  this 
picture  of  "a  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with 
grief." 

THE  BITTER  CUP. 

This  man's  sorrow  came  through  his  faithfulness 
to  God  and  duty.  Many  men  bring  poison  into 
their  blood,  wretchedness  into  their  life,  as  a  conse- 
quence of  their  recklessness  and  selfish  indulgence. 
But  the  prophet's  sorrow  comes  in  the  main  through 
love  of  righteousness  and  loyalty  to  truth.  It  was 
the  call  of  God  that  summoned  him  to  the  battle. 
He  heard  a  voice  that  must  not  be  disobeyed ;  it  was 
a  call  to  continual  crucifixion,  but  the  man  who 
hears  that  voice  cannot  be  a  traitor  to  his  trust. 
As  we  see  Jeremiah  respond  to  this  spiritual  con- 


168    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

straint,  even  when  his  nature  shrinks  from  the 
ordeal,  we  may  well  ask  whether  in  these  softer 
days  our  faith  has  anything  of  that  high,  heroic 
strain.  Are  we  prepared  to  accept  misinterpre- 
tation and  shame  in  our  efforts  to  bring  to  men 
loftier  thoughts  of  God? 

Having  grasped,  then,  the  dominant  principle  of 
the  prophet's  life,  mark  the  particular  ingredients 
in  his  cup  of  woe.  He  had  often  to  stand  alone. 
It  is  true  that  he  had  a  few  disciples  and  friends 
who  loved  him  as  their  own  souls.  Humanly  speak- 
ing, but  for  that  we  could  not  have  had  the  won- 
derful story  of  his  life.  When  bitter  hatred  and 
unreasoning  prejudice  would  have  destroyed  the 
record  of  his  deepest  thoughts  and  noble  work,  God 
used  the  love  of  faithful  friends  to  preserve  it  and 
hand  it  down  to  us.  But  he  had  dark  days,  when 
it  was  practically  Jeremiah  against  the  world.  Kin- 
dred and  acquaintances  went  over  to  the  enemy 
and  even  friends  failed  to  catch  the  significance  of 
his  perpetual  complaint.  A  man  can  have  many  so- 
called  friends  when  he  is  popular  and  successful, 
when  the  crowds  haste  to  his  ministry  and  applause 
is  plentiful,  but  if  he  will  champion  the  unpopular 
cause  and  speak  the  unwelcome  truth  he  must  some- 
times stand  quite  alone,  taking  counsel  only  with 
God  and  his  own  spirit.  Is  not  that  a  hard  thing 
for  a  man  who  by  his  very  nature  loves  fellowship 
with  men,  as  well  as  communion  with  God? 

He,  a  lover  of  peace,  was  flung  out  into  the 
brawling  battle.  A  man  of  such  sensitive  spirit 
would  have  been  more  at  home  in  seclusion,  brood- 
ing over  deep  truths  and  writing  tender,  pathetic 


PROPHET  AS  A  FAILURE  169 

psalms.  Inclination  alone  might  have  made  him  a 
mystic,  a  man  of  the  cloister,  but  the  call  sounded 
in  him  so  clear  and  strong  that  he  was  compelled  to 
be  a  man  of  strife.  Some  men  love  the  excitement 
of  battle.  They  need  opposition  to  stir  them  and 
bring  the  best  out  of  them.  They  are  seen  at  their 
best  in  the  fierce  fray  fighting  for  a  great  principle 
or  defending  a  good  cause.  Jeremiah  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  of  that  type.  He  would  no  doubt 
have  welcomed  a  smooth,  peaceful  message  had 
such  been  possible.  It  was  not  exactly  a  pleasure 
to  him  to  contradict  common  opinions  and  to  tell 
the  popular  prophets  that  they  were  liars.  It  would 
be  a  glorious  thing  if  the  minister  could  truthfully 
declare  that  all  is  going  well;  that  the  people  are 
interested  in  the  deeper  life  of  the  Church,  and 
intelligently  anxious  for  the  spread  of  God's  king- 
dom. But  how  can  the  prophet  say  this  when  he 
knows  that  it  is  not  true;  when  he  sees  so  many 
spending  their  money  for  that  which  is  not  bread 
and  their  labour  for  that  which  does  not  satisfy? 
Jeremiah  often  cried  out  in  severe  anguish  of  spirit 
because  he  was  forced  to  appear  as  a  spiritual  Ish- 
maelite,  his  hand  against  every  man  and  every 
man's  hand  against  him. 

He  was  a  prophet  of  doom.  He  saw  the  inevit- 
able judgment  coming  quickly,  and  must  herald  it. 
Earlier  prophets  had  their  troubles  and  disappoint- 
ments, but  some  of  them  were  able  to  rally  the 
people  for  successful  conflict ;  and  others  had  an  in- 
spiring note  running  through  their  severe  judg- 
ments, but  Jeremiah  had  to  set  his  face  like  brass 
against  all  false  hopes  and  deceitful  expectations, 


170    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

for  in  his  day  all  hopes  of  victory  were  false.  The 
nation  had  gone  so  far  on  the  wrong  road  that 
only  after  a  great  judgment  could  there  be  a  new 
beginning.  By  wise  counsel  and  righteous  policy 
much  evil  could  be  warded  off.  The  rough  down- 
hill journey  might  be  made  a  little  gentler,  but  it 
was  too  late  to  turn  away  the  judgment  which  was 
already  at  the  door.  Woe  to  the  prophet  who  must 
herald  the  coming  doom  and  declare  to  shallow, 
self-satisfied  fanatics  that  the  day  of  Jehovah  is  for 
them  a  day  of  defeat  and  darkness. 

THE   APPARENT   FAILURE. 

In  the  early  years  of  Jeremiah's  ministry  there 
was  a  religious  revival  in  Jerusalem.  This  took 
place  in  the  reign  of  Josiah,  who  came  to  the  throne 
as  a  boy  and  reigned  on  the  whole  nobly  for  thirty 
years.  The  movement  was  both  a  revival  and  a 
reformation.  It  received  its  inspiration  from  the 
"book  of  the  law"  found  in  the  temple,  and  it  marks 
a  very  important  stage  in  the  life  of  the  Jewish 
Church.  Much  good  work  was  done,  the  law-book 
was  diligently  studied,  worship  was  reformed,  many 
corrupt  practices  were  swept  away.  It  was  a  move- 
ment that  tended  to  conserve  the  nobler  elements 
of  the  old  faith  and  to  lead  to  still  higher  revela- 
tions. It  is  difficult  to  trace  Jeremiah's  precise  con- 
nection with  this  movement  and  decide  how  far 
his  earliest  preaching  was  influenced  and  moulded 
by  it.  For  our  present  purpose  we  must  empha- 
size the  fact  that  the  prophet  was  compelled  to 
turn  upon  it  a  stream  of  criticism  and  censure.  It 
was  soon  evident  to  his  keen  insight  that  the  work 


PROPHET  AS  A  FAILURE  171 

had  not  gone  deep  enough.  Re-action  was  setting 
in.  The  people,  instead  of  pressing  forward,  were 
making  a  fetich  of  a  revival  that  had  almost  spent 
its  force.  The  goodness  of  the  nation,  like  a  morn- 
ing cloud,  is  passing  away.  There  must  be  a  deep- 
er repentance,  and  a  new  consecration.  Policy 
whispers:  "Why  dash  thyself  in  vain  against  this 
fierce  fanaticism  and  earn  once  more  the  name 
of  unreasonable  fault-finder.  It  is  just  as  well  to 
hide  the  bitter  truth  in  thine  own  heart."  The  true 
prophet  cannot  listen  to  this  sinister  suggestion. 
The  message  burns  like  a  fire  in  his  bones,  he  speaks 
it  in  persuasive  parable  or  passionate  denunciation, 
and  is  cursed  for  his  pains ;  he  receives  the  cross  as 
his  reward. 

The  little  kingdom  was  at  that  time  between  the 
two  great  powers,  Egypt  and  Babylon.  Josiah,  the 
one  good  king,  had  lost  his  life  in  a  rash  enterprise 
against  the  king  of  Egypt.  This  defeat  caused  con- 
fusion and  many  were  driven  to  despair.  Babylon 
would  soon  check  the  conquering  career  of  Egypt, 
and  between  two  such  world  powers  what  could  this 
small  kingdom  accomplish?  The  alliance  with 
Egypt  had  a  fatal  fascination  for  many,  but  Jere- 
miah saw  clearly  that  there  was  no  help  in  that 
direction.  Egypt  was  a  delusion  and  a  snare,  al- 
ways unready  and  unreliable.  The  princes  and 
politicians  manifested  that  weakness  which  is  in 
its  results  as  hurtful  as  wickedness.  They  seemed 
to  be  able  to  trust  in  anything  except  God  and 
righteousness.  They  were  even  capable  of  trying 
to  pursue  two  contradictory  courses  at  one  and  the 
same  time.    In  the  midst  of  the  general  confusion 


172    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

Jeremiah's  message  grew  clearer  and  stronger.  He 
could  even  recognize  the  foreign  conqueror,  Neb- 
uchadnezzar, as  a  servant  of  Israel's  God,  and  de- 
clare that  salvation  could  only  come  through  sub- 
mission. Restoration  must  be  preceded  by  sharp 
discipline.  There  might  be  a  great  future  for 
Judah's  religion,  but  the  thing  to  be  made  certain 
and  emphatic  now  was  the  unavoidable  doom,  the 
Chaldeans  at  the  door.  Sad  as  it  was,  we  can 
hardly  wonder  that  the  prophet  was  called  a  traitor ; 
that  men  said  he  had  no  proper  pride  of  patriotism 
and  was  willing  to  sell  his  country.  When  the 
crash  came,  when  Jerusalem  lay  helpless  in  the 
hand  of  the  Chaldean  conqueror,  the  old  man  might 
have  found  comfortable  shelter  in  Babylon,  but 
rather  than  give  colour  to  the  false  reproach  he 
chose  to  stay  and  suffer  with  the  miserable  rem- 
nant in  Palestine,  and  then  we  meet  the  last  tragic 
touch,  the  prophet  is  forced  to  travel  to  Egypt 
to  die  in  the  land  for  which  he  had  always  cherished 
a  profound  contempt. 

THE    REAL    SUCCESS. 

When  we  review  these  facts  we  are  compelled  to 
admit  that  according  to  the  world's  standard  of 
success  the  life  of  Jeremiah  was  a  miserable  failure. 
But  it  gives  us  pause  to  remember  that,  tried  by  the 
same  worldly  standard,  the  life  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  also  was  an  utter  failure.  He  was  only  half 
understood  by  His  friends  and  was  crucified  by  His 
foes.  The  bigoted  Pharisees,  the  sleek,  self-sat- 
isfied Sadducees  called  that  failure.  Their  final 
criticism  was  indeed  true,  but  in  a  different  and 


PROPHET  AS  A  FAILURE  173 

deeper  sense  than  they  had  thought  of.  "He  saved 
others ;  Himself  He  cannot  save."  But  how 
much  failure  is  there  in  the  sacrifice  which  has  in- 
spired the  highest  life  of  the  world  for  almost  nine- 
teen centuries?  Those  who  say  that  Jesus  Christ 
has  failed  are  only  those  who  themselves  have  failed 
to  grasp  the  meaning  of  His  life  and  the  mystery 
of  His  death.  The  fact  is,  that  in  the  presence  of 
great,  heroic  men  we  must  revise  our  small  stand- 
ards of  success  and  failure. 

To  examine  further  this  question  we  must  look 
at  the  man's  life  from  the  inside.  The  prophet 
did  not  fail  there  or  he  would  have  broken  down 
and  have  fled  from  his  great  task.  In  the  darkest 
hour  he  could  say  : 

"Blind  unbelief  is  sure  to  err, 
And  scan  His  work  in  vain ; 

God  is  His  own  interpreter, 
And  He  will  make  it  plain." 

It  has  been  said  that  blind  belief  will  err  as  badly  as 
blind  unbelief.  Certainly,  but  faith  is  not  blind.  Su- 
perstition may  be  blind ;  credulity  may  be  blind,  but 
real  faith  is  by  its  very  nature  sight;  insight  into 
reality  and  clear  grasp  of  spiritual  principles. 

Jeremiah  saw  a  living  God  ruling  the  world. 
When  everything  seemed  to  go  wrong  and  life  was 
full  of  crookedness  he  did  not  say,  "There  is  no 
Cod;  only  blind  fate  and  the  success  of  the  strong." 
Though  he  was  sometimes  tempted  to  think  that  his 
God  laid  too  much  upon  him,  thrusting  him  into  the 
forefront  of  the  battle,  yet  nobly  did  he  maintain 
his  splendid  faith.    A  man  who  could  meet  life-long 


174    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

contradiction  and  speak  always  the  painful  truth 
which  the  world  flung  back  to  him  with  fiery  scorn, 
and  yet  believe  in  God,  was  successful  in  the  high- 
est sense.  He  fought  well  one  of  the  hardest  bat- 
tles that  was  ever  appointed  to  a  man  to  fight. 
He  who  thus  believes  in  God  believes  in  all  else 
that  is  essential.  Not  by  a  shallow,  smiling  optim- 
ism could  a  man  in  such  circumstances  gain  the 
victory.  "This  is  the  victory  that  hath  overcome 
the  world,  even  our  faith." 

Seeing  a  God  of  righteousness  he  looked  forward 
to  a  king  of  righteousness.  Several  kings  the 
prophet  saw  in  Judah.  For  some  he  had  genuine 
pity  and  sorrow ;  for  others  he  was  compelled  to 
cherish  contempt.  The  best  king  of  the  time  also 
met  a  tragic  fate  and  his  defeat  was  to  many  the 
destruction  of  God's  cause.  The  others  were  weak 
or  wicked  kings,  with  the  semblance  but  without 
the  reality  of  royalty.  They  are  shadows  flitting 
across  the  stage  or  weaklings  tossed  hither  and 
thither  by  the  storm.  Jeremiah  met  these  ill-fated 
men  and  though  he  longed  to  be  loyal  he  had  little 
satisfaction  in  such  helpless,  vacillating  rulers.  But 
he  did  not  lose  his  faith  in  royalty.  He  looked 
upward  and  forward  to  a  higher  king.  What  he 
saw  of  feeble  kings,  of  men  who  held  the  office 
though  destitute  of  royal  power,  did  not  destroy 
his  faith  in  divine  kingship.  Here  he  did  not 
dwell  upon  the  surface.  At  this  point  he  did  not 
fail.  God  will  provide  a  righteous  king,  the  true 
guide  and  faithful  leader  of  his  people,  "The  Lord 
our  Righteousness." 

Jeremiah  saw  a  nation  destroyed  and  a  church 


PROPHET  AS  A  FAILURE  175 

broken  to  pieces,  but  he  did  not  lose  faith  in  the 
reality  and  undying  power  of  true  religion.  To-day 
the  philosopher  or  poet  can  look  back  upon  a  long 
stretch  of  history  and 

"Our  little  systems  have  their  day ; 
They  have  their  day  and  cease  to  be." 

To  the  prophet  such  a  calm  survey  was  not  possible. 
The  breaking  of  the  system,  imperfect  as  it  was, 
was  the  breaking  of  his  heart.  From  the  depths 
of  his  own  faith  he  drew  the  conclusion  that  though 
temples  may  be  shattered  and  spoiled,  though  the 
sacrifices  may  cease  and  the  people  be  scattered,  re- 
ligion cannot  die.  God's  purpose  cannot  turn  back 
or  be  defeated.  It  must  go  forward  to  its  glorious 
fulfilment.  The  political  kingdom  may  fail,  but 
God  can  bring  out  of  it  a  new  church.  There  shall 
be  a  new  kingdom'  and  a  new  covenant.  In  the 
great  future  the  law  shall  not  be  written  simply  on 
stone  or  in  books.  It  shall  be  engraven  on  the 
hearts  of  faithful  men.  Here  is  faith  that  rises 
above  appearances  and  laughs  at  impossibilities. 

In  this  light  we  must  surely  revise  our  thoughts 
of  failure  and  success.  The  real  failure  is  the 
man  who  ruins  his  life  and  wastes  his  strength  in 
wicked  self-indulgence,  the  man  who  grasps  and 
devours  greedily  all  that  the  world  has  to  offer. 
Though  the  prophet  had  not  the  clear  hope  for 
the  future  that  the  Christ  has  brought  to  us  we  can 
truly  say  that  he  lived  in  the  light  of  eternity,  and 
viewed  in  that  light  he  is  a  real  success.  The  Eter- 
nal God  in  whom  he  trusted  does  not  cast  such 
spiritual   treasure   into  darkness   and   nothingness. 


176    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

Though  he  goes  down  weeping  to  the  grave  he 
shall  come  again  with  rejoicing.  In  him  also  shall 
the  great  word  be  fulfilled :  "The  ransomed  of  the 
Lord  shall  return  and  come  to  Zion  with  songs  and 
everlasting  joy  upon  their  heads.  They  shall  obtain 
joy  and  gladness  and  sorrow  and  sighing  shall  flee 
away." 


ASPECTS  OF  A  PROPHET'S   LIFE 
(JEREMIAH  ) 


"A  later  generation,  however,  awoke  to  the  virtue  of 
Jeremiah's  pain.  Whether  the  figure  of  the  Suffering  Ser- 
vant in  the  fifty-third  of  Isaiah  be  intended  by  the  writer 
as  an  individual  (as  it  seems  to  me  we  ought  to  conclude), 
or  (in  the  opinion  of  most  modern  critics)  as  a  personi- 
fication of  the  righteous  and  suffering  remnant  of  Israel, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  vision  is  partly  inspired  by  the 
nation's  appreciation  of  the  meaning  of  Jeremiah's  life." — 
Professor  G.  A.  Smith,  D.  D.,  "Modern  Criticism  and  the 
Preaching  of  the  Old  Testament." 


CHAPTER  XV 

ASPECTS   OF  A  PROPHET'S  LIFE 
(JEREMIAH  ) 

THE  CALL.       (i.    I-IO  ) 

Jeremiah  was  a  young  man  of  priestly  family  who 
was  destined  to  spend  his  life  in  opposition  to  the 
ruling  powers  in  Church  and  State.  The  real  reason 
of  this  is  given  here ;  the  call  of  God  laid  hold  of  him 
mightily,  setting  before  him  a  large  mission  and 
impelling  him  to  undertake  a  difficult  task.  This 
was  a  memorable  day ;  all  his  life  grew  out  of  it,  as 
the  plant  grows  from  the  seed.  Predestined  to  be 
a  prophet,  he  shrank  from  the  prospect  of  life-long 
martyrdom  when  the  actual  call  came.  His  sense 
of  weakness  and  unwillingness,  as  well  as  of  youth- 
ful inexperience,  is  expressed  in  the  words,  "I  am 
a  child."  True,  he  was  only  a  youth,  but  the  life 
that  is  to  be  completely  consecrated  to  strenuous 
service  must  be  surrendered  in  its  early  days.  Such 
a  call  has  a  directness  and  certainty  to  the  man  who 
receives  it ;  to  others  the  proof  of  its  reality  is  in  the 
life  that  comes  out  of  it.  Spiritual  like  natural 
forces  are  measured  by  the  work  they  do;  if  we 
know  anything  of  the  life  of  Jeremiah,  we  know 
what  strain  and  effort  was  involved  in  being  true  to 
179 


180    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

this  vocation  through  forty  long,  painful  years. 
Jeremiah  was  not  the  kind  of  man  to  take  upon  him- 
self in  a  light-hearted  fashion  the  high  task  of  set- 
ting straight  a  world  that  was  very  crooked.  The 
prophetic  career  had  no  natural  attractions  at  that 
time  for  a  young  man  of  clear  vision  and  sincere 
speech ;  the  only  explanation  and  justification  for 
Jeremiah's  action  is  that  a  burden  was  laid  upon  him 
which  he  could  not  cast  away ;  the  voice  and  vision 
which  gave  meaning  to  his  life  came  from  the  King 
who  rules  in  heaven  and  on  earth. 

THE  PERSEVERANCE  OF  A  SAINT,     (i.   l8,   19;  XXV.  3.) 

One  of  the  great  lessons  of  Jeremiah's  life,  apart 
from  its  direct  teaching,  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact 
that  it  sets  forth  so  clearly  the  power  of  a  living  faith 
in  God  to  sustain  a  man  through  long  years  of  toil 
in  the  midst  of  fierce  opposition.  He  is  taught  at  the 
first  that  his  ministry  is  to  be  one  of  judgment,  and 
that  he  must  expect  constant  persecution.  The  judg- 
ment may  be  delayed,  but  God  will  surely  perform 
His  word,  and  of  this  timid  shrinking  youth  the  Lord 
will  make  a  strong  fortress,  an  iron  pillar  against 
the  whole  land,  against  princes,  priests  and  people. 
He  is  to  demonstrate  the  feebleness  of  mere  num- 
bers and  to  show  that  one  man  with  God  in  him  and 
behind  him  is  a  mighty  force.  The  real  commentary 
on  this  is  the  story  of  the  man's  life,  its  persistent 
faithfulness  and  patient  endurance.  Whether  he  is 
meditating  privately  or  preaching  the  truth  openly, 
suffering  the  severest  public  shame  or  wrestling  in 
secret  agony,  there  is  a  firmness  of  character  and 
determination  of  spirit  which  reveals  real  strength 


A  PROPHET'S  LIFE  181 

behind  apparent  weakness.  He  is  not  a  conventional 
picture  of  patience;  wild  words  are  at  times  wrung 
out  of  his  soul  by  the  fact  that  men  misunderstood 
him  and  that  he  found  it  hard  to  understand  the 
dealing  of  God ;  but  the  measure  of  his  suffering  is 
also  the  measure  of  his  power  to  persevere.  The 
firmness  of  the  righteous  man,  the  perseverance  of 
the  saint,  the  continuity  of  character — these  are  dif- 
ferent phrases  belonging  to  different  periods  of 
thought,  but  they  all  embody  the  same  truth  that  the 
man  who  has  seen  God  in  true,  clear  vision  is  sus- 
tained in  life's  constant  struggle. 

THE  ROOT  OF  THE  MATTER,      (ii.   IO-I4.) 

The  preacher  does  not  play  upon  the  surface ;  he 
penetrates  to  the  heart;  in  all  this  wild  confusion 
and  many-sided  corruption  there  are  only  two  evils, 
and  these  are  two  sides  of  one  great  apostasy ;  the 
people  have  forsaken  their  God  and  hewn  out  for 
themselves  broken  disappointing  cisterns.  The  man 
who  goes  to  the  central  point  with  such  clear  vision 
and  strong  conviction  cannot  be  contented  by  shal- 
low resolutions  or  superficial  reforms.  Strange 
thing  that  Israel  with  such  glorious  memories  behind 
(ii.  2,  3)  should  now  play  the  fool,  worshipping  for- 
eign gods  and  trusting  in  foreign  nations.  She  will 
not  learn  from  past  experience,  near  or  remote,  (ii. 
16,  36.)  This  is  a  matter  for  astonishment.  To  the 
prophet,  who  sees  the  strength,  righteousness  and 
faithfulness  of  Jehovah,  it  seems  a  horrible  mystery 
that  heathen  nations  should  be  so  steadfast  and  Is- 
rael so  fickle.  He  was  right  when  he  called  it  black 
ingratitude,  base  apostasy;  but  we  do  well  to  note 


182    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

that  we  have  here  something  which  explains,  if  it  does 
not  excuse,  the  weakness  of  these  people.  The  heathen 
religions  were  small,  limited,  sensuous,  and  in  some 
cases  even  sensual.  They  suited  the  average  man; 
they  ministered  to  the  passions  of  the  crowd ;  they 
satisfied  religious  cravings  without  making  large 
demands  on  the  conscience.  The  religion  of  Israel 
was  becoming  more  spiritual ;  the  true  teachers  were 
advancing  towards  a  nobler  faith  and  loftier  ideal. 
The  mass  of  the  people  went  back  because  they  were 
not  willing  to  go  forward.  A  stagnant  orthodoxy 
would  not  meet  the  case ;  loyalty  to  Moses  and  the 
earlier  prophets  meant  power  to  perceive  that  the 
God  of  the  past  is  the  guide  of  the  present;  that 
purity  of  worship  and  righteousness  of  life  are  now, 
as  ever,  the  sign  of  faithfulness  and  the  source  of 
strength.  Those  who  could  not  rise  to  this  lofty 
height  turned  from  the  fountain  of  living  water  to 
earthern  cisterns ;  that  is,  they  trusted  in  strange 
superstitions  that  could  not  satisfy  and  in  foreign 
help  that  never  came. 

PIETY  AND  PATRIOTISM,     (iv.   1 0,-22.) 

Not  in  any  light,  frivolous  fashion  does  the 
prophet  hurl  this  strong  reproach  at  his  people : 
"They  are  wise  to  do  evil,  but  to  do  good  they  have 
no  knowledge."  Because  he  sees  the  dread  conse- 
quences of  faithlessness  and  folly  he  is  constrained 
to  cry,  "I  am  pained  at  my  very  heart" ;  or,  "I  suffer 
intense  pain,  O  the  walls  of  my  heart !"  There  is 
nothing  artificial  or  hysterical  here ;  it  is  the  agony 
of  a  strong  man  bowed  under  a  weight  of  woe.  In 
order  to  preach  judgment  he  must  see  it,  and  the  sight 


A  PROPHET'S  LIFE  183 

is  overwhelming.  "I  beheld  the  earth,  and,  lo!  it  was 
waste  and  void ;  and  the  heavens,  and  tfiey  had  no 
light."  Love  has  the  greatest  capacity  for  suffering; 
love  of  God  and  love  of  country  causes  this  man  to 
weep  over  the  wickedness  which  turned  the  beauti- 
ful earth  into  darkness  and  chaos.  He  could  not  sit 
apart  admiring  his  own  virtue,  and  look  with  cold 
contempt  upon  social  disorder  and  political  corrup- 
tion. He  could  not  wrap  himself  in  a  hard  coating 
of  selfishness  and  watch  unmoved  the  lingering 
agonies  of  a  dying  nation.  His  was  not  the  piety 
that  is  content  with  hollow  compromise  and  conven- 
tional phrase.  His  was  not  the  patriotism  that  is 
satisfied  with  shouting  against  the  foreign  foe.  Be- 
cause he  loved  righteousness  and  loved  his  country, 
he  saw  clearly  the  coming  doom,  and  shed  these  bit- 
ter tears.  He  teaches  us  the  great  lesson  which 
mere  politicians  are  prone  to  forget,  that  no  nation, 
however  great  its  privileges,  can  safely  outrage  the 
laws  of  truth  and  honesty. 

THE  PROPHET  AS  CYNIC.       (v.   1-6.) 

This  passage  might  easily  provoke  the  comment: 
"This  is,  indeed,  a  very  cynical  statement ;  the 
preacher  is  disappointed  and  soured ;  he  rails  at  all 
the  world,  and  thinks  that  there  is  none  good  but 
himself."  Can  the  prophet  be  a  cynic?  No;  that 
is  the  very  opposite  of  the  prophetic  spirit;  but  he 
must  fight  that  devil  on  the  battlefield  of  his  own 
soul.  He  has  his  hours  of  depression,  when  he 
thinks  that  he  stands  alone,  that  he  is  the  only  man 
in  the  city  who  has  not  bowed  his  knee  to  Baal ; 
yes,  he  has  moments  when  he  is  tempted  to  think 


184    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

that  God  has  deceived  and  forsaken  him.  Even 
Jeremiah  did  not  carry  all  the  piety  of  the  nation 
in  his  own  solitary  heart.  Had  that  been  so,  his 
message  would  have  perished  with  him.  But  he 
sometimes  suffered  from  the  terrible  pressure  of 
loneliness  and  lack  of  sympathy,  and  not  without 
reason  was  he  oppressed  by  the  scarcity  of  strong, 
sterling  men.  Men  of  insight,  capacity  and  stead- 
fastness were  not  common  at  that  time.  The  broad 
places  of  the  city  were  full  of  men,  men  who  were 
noisy,  pretentious  and  clever,  but  in  the  prophet's 
sense  it  was  not  easy  in  all  the  crowd  to  find  a  man. 
Even  the  prophet  is  tempted  to  treat  blatant  folly 
with  cynical  contempt.  This  sensitive  man  looked 
out  upon  a  strange,  confused  world.  He  saw  men 
making  fools  of  themselves.  They  listened  eagerly 
to  quack  prophets  and  turned  away  from  the  saintly 
teachers ;  they  sowed  tares,  and  hoped  to  reap  fine 
wheat ;  they  lived  ungodly  lives,  and  expected  heaven 
to  aid  them  in  the  day  of  battle;  they  trusted  in 
small  ritualistic  tricks,  and  forgot  the  great  prin- 
ciples of  justice  and  mercy.  What  wonder  if  the 
prophet  in  his  darker  hours  should  be  tempted  to 
cry:  "What  fools  these  men  are,  and  am  I  not  a 
fool  to  fret  myself  about  them  ?"  But  to  be  cynical 
in  the  fullest  sense  is  to  lose  all  faith  in  God  and 
goodness.  In  that  sense  Jeremiah  was  no  cynic ;  we 
have  seen  him  carry  the  cross  and  weep  over  the 
sin  and  shame  of  his  brethren. 

THE  PROPHET  AS  A  CONSERVATIVE,     (vi.    l6,   1 7.) 

Jeremiah  is  radical  in  his  treatment  of  religious 
and  social  problems ;  he  shows  that  God  will  destroy 


A  PROPHET'S  LIFE  185 

the  most  sacred  places  and  the  most  ancient  forms 
in  order  to  save  the  truth  that  these  were  meant  to 
represent  (vii.  14).  He  can,  however,  adopt  a  con- 
servative tone  and  exhort  men  to  "ask  for  the  good 
old  paths."  A  true  prophet  cannot  be  a  conservative 
in  any  narrow,  stupid  sense.  The  very  essence  of 
the  prophetic  spirit  is  the  faith  that  the  living  God 
is  still  speaking  to  men,  giving  them  new  revelations 
and  fresh  guidance.  A  man  who  really  believes  that 
cannot  be  a  slavish,  superstitious  worshipper  of  old 
things  for  their  own  sake.  But  he  can  quite  con- 
sistently utter  a  powerful  protest  against  those  who 
recklessly  break  away  from  the  simple  life  and 
sacred  associations  of  earlier  days.  He  can  justly 
denounce  innovations  in  religion  which  do  not  spring 
from  any  real  principle,  but  are  mere  makeshifts, 
the  refuge  of  men  who  do  not  understand  either  the 
teaching  of  the  past  or  the  needs  of  the  present.  In 
a  very  real  sense,  the  only  way  to  find  the  new  life 
is  to  stand  in  the  ways  and  ask  for  the  old  paths,  the 
new  thing  that  is  both  true  and  valuable  springs  out 
of  the  old  in  the  way  of  healthy  growth.  The  real 
principles  that  lie  behind  Jeremiah's  preaching  are 
old,  and  because  he  sees  their  living  relation  to  the 
past  he  can  bring  out  of  them  new  applications.  He 
has  the  strongest  contempt  for  mere  parrot-like  repe- 
tition of  other  men's  words ;  he  insists  that  each 
prophet  shall  see  with  his  own  eyes,  and  deliver  his 
own  message,  but  no  man  is  more  faithful  to  the 
great  teachers  who  have  gone  before.  He  was  far 
from  making  a  fetich  of  "good  old  times"  ;  he  would 
gladly  have  cherished  larger  hopes  for  the  present 
if  he  could  have  found  a  reasonable  basis  for  them ; 


186    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

but  he  would  not,  to  use  his  own  words,  cry  "Peace, 
peace,  where  there  is  no  peace."  The  old  faith  in 
God,  the  old  brotherly  feeling,  the  old  simplicity  of 
family  life,  these  must  be  preserved  if  the  nation  is 
to  adapt  itself  to  new  circumstances  and  face  new 
problems.  Life  is  the  real  conservative  force,  the 
man  that  is  alive  can  stand  in  the  old  paths  and  face 
new  duties ;  by  real  progress  he  can  preserve  the 
permanent  revelation. 

THE   PROPHET   AS   AN    OPPONENT   OF  BIGOTRY. 

(vii.  1-4.) 
Here  the  prophet  attacks  the  false  dogma  of  the 
inviolability  of  the  temple ;  this  place  the  priests  say 
cannot  be  destroyed,  because  it  is  Jehovah's  palace, 
the  dwelling  place  of  the  God  of  Israel.  This  belief 
is  founded  on  a  false  interpretation  of  history,  and 
is  a  distortion  of  Isaiah's  teaching,  yet  religious 
zealots  are  prepared  to  make  it  a  test  of  orthodoxy. 
Jeremiah  is  commanded  to  stand  at  the  gate  of  the 
temple  and  declare  that  it  is  a  lie,  dishonoring  to 
God  and  hateful  to  men.  This  is  a  serious  business. 
The  prophet  speaks  at  the  risk  of  his  life.  The  best 
commentary  is  the  statement  in  Chapter  xxvi. 
There  we  can  learn  both  the  bitter  feeling  that  was 
stirred  and  the  dignified  position  taken  by  the 
prophet  in  a  critical  hour.  Those  whose  only 
thought  of  Jeremiah  is  that  of  a  weak,  melancholy 
creature,  who  weeps  on  the  slightest  provocation, 
would  do  well  to  consider  the  calm  words :  "But  as 
for  me,  behold,  I  am  in  your  hand :  do  with  me  as 
is  good  and  right  in  your  eyes.  Only  know  ye  for 
certain  that,  if  ye  put  me  to  death,  ye  shall  bring 


A  PROPHET'S  LIFE  187 

innocent  blood  upon  yourselves,  and  upon  this  city, 
and  upon  the  inhabitants  thereof;  for  of  a  truth  Je- 
hovah hath  sent  me  unto  you  to  speak  all  these 
words  in  your  ears."     (xxvi.  14-16.) 

Jeremiah  standing  at  the  door  of  the  Jerusalem 
temple  declaring  the  broad,  simple  demands  of  the 
moral  law  is  a  worthy  successor  of  Moses  ;  Jeremiah 
prophesying  of  the  "new  Covenant"  is  a  real  fore- 
runner of  the  Christ.  The  narrow  bigotry  that  he 
rebuked  so  fiercely  consisted  in  divorcing  religion 
from  morality,  profession  from  practice,  worship 
from  work.  Past  promises  were  perverted  and  pres- 
ent duties  ignored.  Under  the  delusion  that  there 
is  one  place  where  Jehovah  must  dwell,  the  temple 
and  the  city  were  regarded  as  safe  from  the  assaults 
of  foreign  foes.  "This  is  the  temple  of  Jehovah" 
became  a  party  cry.  The  sanctuary  was  worshipped 
and  the  God  of  the  sanctuary  forgotten  or  misunder- 
stood. 

THE     PREACHER    OF    RIGHTEOUSNESS.       (ix.     23-25.) 

No  ceremony  or  sanctuary  can  take  the  place  of 
righteousness.  It  is  always  true  that  obedience  is 
better  than  sacrifice.  But  behind  obedience  there 
lies  insight,  the  knowledge  of  God's  character,  the 
sympathetic  appreciation  of  His  demands.  A  man 
may  in  a  lowly  spirit  rejoice  that  this  power  of 
knowledge  and  obedience  have  been  inspired  in  him 
by  the  spirit  of  God.  From  the  prophet's  point  of 
view  it  is  not  worth  while  to  glory  in  anything  else. 
Wisdom,  strength,  riches — these  are  the  world's 
treasures.  Men  covet  them  and  trust  in  them.  These 
gifts  of  God   were  treated  as   gods   in  Jerusalem 


i88    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

twenty-five  centuries  ago ;  men  toiled  for  them  and 
put  their  trust  in  them.  The  preacher  declares  that 
there  is  something  higher;  it  is  the  preacher's  duty 
now,  as  then,  to  uplift  the  ideal  of  righteous  living 
and  unselfish  service.  Men  push  on  in  their  search 
for  gold  and  fame,  popularity  and  power,  but  in 
their  serious  moments  they  confess  that  without 
this  ideal  of  faith  and  obedience  life  would  be  poor 
and  meaningless.  The  kingdoms  of  the  world  at- 
tract us,  but  still  we  recognize  that  the  supreme 
command  is,  "Seek  first  the  Kingdom  of  God." 

THE  PROPHET  AND  PRINCE,     (xxxvi.) 

The  prophet's  reward  was  always  the  cross ;  he 
must  repeat  the  unwelcome  truth ;  he  must  bear  the 
burden  of  misinterpretation.  This  is  one  incident  in 
the  tragic  career :  "Jehoiakim  was  twenty  and  five 
years  old  when  he  began  to  reign,  and  he  reigned 
eleven  years  in  Jerusalem,  and  he  did  that  which  was 
evil  in  the  sight  of  Jehovah."  This  is  one  of  the 
kings  to  whom  Jeremiah  owed  loyalty  and  service. 
Eleven  years  of  restless,  wicked  life  he  lived,  and 
then  his  body  was  flung  over  the  walls  of  Jerusalem, 
"buried  with  the  burial  of  an  ass."  As  he  comes  be- 
fore us  here  he  manifests  a  bold  impiety,  a  want  of 
reverence  for  God  and  good  men,  that  gives  the  key 
to  his  character.  The  difficulties  of  that  time  were 
great  for  any  king,  but  for  one  who  had  no  true 
faith  and  no  real  principle,  no  serious  purpose,  the 
case  was  hopeless.  Note  the  striking  contrast.  The 
prophet  has  spent  his  time  and  strength  writing  out 
the  message  of  warning,  every  sentence  has  been 
well    weighed,    every    word   represents   thoughtful 


A  PROPHET'S  LIFE  189 

conviction  and  tearful  sympathy.  This  book  has 
come  from  God.  It  has  come  from  the  depths  of 
the  prophet's  soul.  It  was  a  gloomy  prophecy,  but 
it  was  sent  on  an  errand  of  mercy.  How  is  it  re- 
ceived at  court?  The  king,  with  cool  contempt, 
cuts  up  the  roll  and  casts  it  into  the  fire.  The  man 
upon  the  throne,  irresponsible  and  irreverent,  pours 
scorn  and  shame  upon  the  noblest  servant  that  God 
has  given  him ;  that  of  itself  proves  the  truth  of  the 
prophecy  and  hastens  its  fulfilment.  The  truth  re- 
mains though  men  shut  their  eyes  to  it ;  the  prophet's 
message  receives  new  life  by  the  very  attempt  that 
is  made  to  destroy  it.  The  judgment  is  written  in 
a  book  that  no  king  can  destroy. 

THE  NEW   COVENANT,      (xxxi.   33.) 

The  written  word  is  a  wonderful  thing;  it  is 
marvelous  thus  to  express  and  preserve  thought  by 
means  of  the  outward  visible  symbol.  Doubtless 
many  things  are  written  now  that  are  not  worth  pre- 
serving, but  the  great  helpful  books  are  an  important 
part  of  the  world's  treasure ;  the  wisdom  of  the  cen- 
turies is  in  them.  Men  have  used  many  things  for 
the  purpose  of  writing,  stones,  bricks,  skin,  paper. 
Stories  forgotten  for  centuries  come  to  us  now  from 
the  distant  past  written  on  those  strange  stone  books 
of  early  days.  But  before  any  such  material  was 
largely  used  the  mind  of  man  was  the  means  of 
preserving  as  well  as  originating  the  thought  which 
makes  literature.  Stories,  songs  and  proverbs 
passed  from  father  to  son,  not  by  mere  mechanical 
memory,  but  by  living  interest ;  the  best  thoughts 
and  noblest  truths  were  thus  handed  down  from  age 


190    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

to  age.  Literature  before  letters.  It  may  be  that 
in  Jeremiah's  time  some  were  beginning  to  make  an 
idol  of  the  book  and  exalt  the  letter  above  the 
truth.  The  book  is  good,  but  man  must  not  be  a 
slave  to  the  book;  the  spirit  that  created  the  good 
book  must  dwell  in  each,  imparting  a  life  that  is 
ever  new  and  spontaneous.  Here  we  have  the 
prophet's  highest  word.  Judgment  is  not  all ;  there 
is  mercy  in  the  heart  of  God.  After  captivity  there 
shall  be  restoration,  a  new  beginning  and  a  new 
hope.  But  how  can  we  be  sure  things  will  not  drift 
back  and  become  worse  than  ever?  Because  God 
will  give  a  new  Covenant  and  write  it  not  upon 
tables  of  stone  or  in  book-rolls,  but  upon  the  minds 
and  hearts  of  his  faithful  followers.  The  political 
order  may  change,  but  religion  shall  not  die;  it 
shall  rather  become  purer,  more  spiritual,  more  per- 
sonal. This  is  a  lofty  view  of  religion  and  a  splen- 
did exhibition  of  faith.  This  man  by  his  life  and 
teaching  helped  forward  the  movement  towards  a 
larger,  freer  faith.  His  prophecy  of  the  new  Cov- 
enant has  received  its  fulfilment  in  the  pure  indi- 
viduality of  the  Christian  religion ;  and  now  our 
duty  is  to  show  that  the  new  Covenant  means  both 
personal  salvation  and  social  service,  a  kingdom  of 
God  here  as  well  as  a  hope  of  eternal  life. 


THE  PROPHET  AS  PRIEST 


"If  the  remnant  of  Israel  was  not  lost  among  the 
heathen  after  the  destructive  catastrophe  of  587-86,  but 
found  the  way  in  which  alone  its  future  lay,  this  is  really 
due  to  the  service  rendered  by  Ezekiel.  In  a  wonderful 
manner  he  suited  his  activity  to  the  changed  conditions. 
In  distinction  from  his  earlier  activity,  as  well  as  from 
that  of  all  his  prophetic  predecessors  that  now  exercised 
by  him  shows  a  fully  marked  individualistic  feature.  His 
word  is  now  mainly  directed  to  individuals  and  from  many 
individuals  he  seeks  to  establish  the  sacred  community  of 
the  approaching  final  time.  In  order  to  quicken  the  con- 
science he  declares  with  special  emphasis  that  every  one 
stands  in  his  separate  personal  relationship  to  Jehovah  and 
that  He  will  judge  him  according  to  his  personal  action 
alone,  and  in  this  way  he  contributed  much  to  the  deepen- 
ing of  piety;  how  earnestly  he  contended  for  the  compre- 
hension of  the  worth  of  moral  personality  is  shown  in  a 
special  manner  by  xii.  18-33.  We  may  correctly  regard 
him  as,  next  to  Jeremiah,  the  founder  of  the  doctrine  of 
individual  retribution.  In  this  respect  a  doctrinal  dog- 
matic effort  is  clearly  manifest  in  the  prophecies  of  the 
second  period.  It  is  religious  dogma  and  seeks  to  con- 
ceive the  facts  of  religion  in  intelligible  forms  though  the 
material  at  first  shows  itself  inflexible.  His  legislative 
activity  stands  in  connection  with  this." — Kraetzschmar. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  PROPHET  AS  PRIEST 

Ezekiel  holds  a  peculiar  position  as  a  prophet 
who  exercised  his  ministry  far  from  his  own  land. 
He  lived  among  the  exiles  in  Babylon  and  ad- 
dressed to  them  his  message  concerning  the  destiny 
of  Israel.  He  belonged  to  an  aristocratic  and  priest- 
ly family  and  it  is  probable  that  in  youth  he  was 
engaged  in  temple  service.  Five  years  after  his 
arrival  in  Babylon  he  was  called  to  prophesy  against 
"the  rebellious  nation."  Thus  he  became  a  prophet, 
but  though  there  was  no  opportunity  for  such  min- 
istry, he  never  ceased  to  be  a  priest.  He  stands  at 
a  turning  point  of  Jewish  history  between  the 
prophets  who  had  in  the  first  place  heralded  the 
judgment  and  those  whose  main  business  was  to 
heal  the  wounds  and  minister  consolation.  His 
ministry  has  both  these  sides  strongly  developed. 
The  prophet  was  taken  to  Babylon  in  the  year  597 
b.  c,  when  Nebuchadnezzar  carried  off  so  much 
of  the  substance  and  so  many  of  the  best  people 
of  Jerusalem  (2  Kings  xxiv.  14).  The  two  most 
powerful  religious  influences  of  that  time  had  al- 
ready left  a  deep  impression  on  his  mind.  First,  the 
religious  reformation  under  King  Josiah ;  and,  sec- 
ond, the  teaching  of  Jeremiah.     It  is  evident  from 

193 


194    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

Ezekiel's  own  picture  of  the  new  temple  that  the 
Deuteronomic  idea  of  one  central  well-ordered  sanc- 
tuary was  for  him  essential  to  the  preservation  of 
pure  religion  and  the  manifestation  of  true  faith. 
From  his  peculiar  type  of  mind,  as  well  as  from 
the  intensity  of  his  faith,  it  followed  that  he  had 
little  sympathy  with  the  variety  and  spontaneity  of 
the  older  forms  of  religion.  Hence  he  was  one 
of  the  greatest  among  those  who  strove  for  strict- 
ness and  uniformity  in  worship.  Those  who  have 
studied  most  carefully  the  church  life  and  apocalyp- 
tic literature  bear  strong  testimony  to  the  reality 
and  duration  of  his  influence. 

The  teaching  of  Jeremiah  was  evidently  an  im- 
portant part  of  Ezekiel's  preparation  for  the  pro- 
phetic call.  Verbal  coincidences,  which  in  this 
case  are  numerous  and  suggestive,  are  merely  signs 
of  something  deeper.  It  may  be  well  to  note  a  few 
of  them. 

(a)  'Thy  words  were  found,  and  I  did  eat  them ; 
and  thy  words  were  unto  me  a  joy  and  the  rejoicing 
of  mine  heart." 

(Jer.  xv.  16.) 

"Then  did  I  eat  it  (i.  e.,  the  book-roll)  and  it  was 
in  my  mouth  as  honey  for  sweetness." 

(Ezek.  iii.  3.) 

(b)  "And  I  set  watchmen  over  you,  saying, 
'Hearken  to  the  sound  of  the  trumpet' ;  but  they 
said,  'We  will  not  hearken.' " 

(Jer.  vi.   17.) 


THE  PROPHET  AS  PRIEST  195 

"Son  of  man,  I  have  made  thee  a  watchman  unto 
the  house  of  Israel,  therefore  hear  the  word  at 
my  mouth  and  give  them  warning  from  me." 

(Ezek.  iii.  17.) 

(c)  'The  heart  of  the  king  shall  perish,  and  the 
heart  of  the  princes ;  and  the  priests  shall  be  aston- 
ished, and  the  prophets  shall  wonder." 

(Jer.  iv.  9.) 

"The  king  shall  mourn  and  the  prince  shall  be 
clothed  with  desolation,  and  the  hands  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  land  shall  be  troubled." 

(Ezek.  vii.  27.) 

(d)  "Then  said  Jehovah  unto  me,  Though  Moses 
and  Samuel  stood  before  me,  yet  my  mind  could 
not  be  toward  this  people." 

(Jer.  xv.   1.) 

"Though  these  three  men,  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job, 
were  in  it  they  should  but  deliver  their  own  souls 
by  their  righteousness,  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah." 

(Ezek.  xiv.  14.) 

(c)  "Seek  in  the  broad  places  thereof,  if  ye  can 
find  a  man." 

(Jer.  v.   1.) 


"I  sought  for  a  man  among  them 


but  I  found  none." 

(Ezek.  xxii.  30.) 

Jeremiah  knew  well  that  religion  could  not  be 
kept  alive  simply  by  books  and  forms  of  worship. 
It  must  find  permanence  and  progress  through  the 


196    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

lives  of  faithful,  intelligent  men.  Books  were  be- 
coming more  useful,  and  ceremonies  could  not  quite 
be  dispensed  with,  but  these  must  receive  their 
true  interpretation  through  the  experience  of  men 
who  gather  up  the  treasures  of  the  past  and  march 
forward  to  a  richer  future.  The  strength  of  the 
movement  shows  that  there  were  many  men  of 
this  class,  but  Ezekiel  stands  out  boldly  as  a  type 
and  leader  who  has  given  varied  expression  to 
their  beliefs  and  aspirations. 

A   LIVING   LINK, 

He  links  together  in  his  own  life  contrasted  pe- 
riods, different  classes  and  opposite  interests.  Stand- 
ing in  the  midst  of  the  great  period  of  judgment  he 
affirms  its  absolute  justice  and  helps  to  shape  the 
new  church  that  arises  after  the  downfall  of  the 
nation.  He  is  a  public  speaker  and  a  man  of  letters ; 
a  prophet  and  a  priest ;  a  man  of  large  outlook  and 
yet  a  pastor  ordained  to  watch  over  the  souls  of 
men.  A  man  endowed  with  such  varied  capacities 
must  be  called  a  many-sided  man ;  in  fact  the  diffi- 
culty is  to  harmonize  his  ideas  and  show  the  unity 
of  his  life.  We  must  be  content  to  give  fair  repre- 
sentation to  each  essential  feature  without  making 
too  great  a  sacrifice  for  the  sake  of  smoothness  and 
system.  Ezekiel  plays  so  many  parts  that  he  can 
scarcely  be  expected  to  be  in  the  first  rank  in  any  of 
them.  Besides  being  a  prophet  and  a  priest  he  is  a 
strange  combination  of  the  poet  and  theologian ;  he 
does  not  attain  to  the  perfection  of  form  character- 
istic of  the  greatest  poets  and  he  has  not  woven  his 
teachings   into  a  clearly  articulated  and   logically 


THE  PROPHET  AS  PRIEST  197 

consistent  scheme,  but  he  loves  a  weird  poetic  im- 
agery and  he  sees  the  importance  of  certain  great 
theological  ideas.  Like  all  representative  men  he 
unites  in  himself  the  conflicting  forces  and  comple- 
mentary conceptions  of  his  age.  Hence  he  is  by  no 
means  a  man  of  one  idea.  He  can  hold  at  the  same 
time  thoughts  which  seem  to  small  sectarian  minds 
to  be  mutually  exclusive.  And  we  must  admit  that 
it  is  the  most  difficult  thing  to  maintain  a  church 
system,  such  as  that  which  he  sketches,  and  keep 
alive  at  the  same  time  the  personal  responsibility 
and  spiritual  experience  which  is  so  powerfully  ex- 
pressed in  his  teaching.  If,  however,  our  religion 
is  to  reach  a  high  level  it  must  by  the  power  of 
Christian  faith  give  appropriate  expression  to  the 
deep  solitary  experience  and  the  broad  social  com- 
munion. Similarly  we  may  say  that  all  the  varied 
lines  of  ministerial  activity  which  find  a  bold  partial 
embodiment  in  the  life  of  this  inspired  man  have  a 
permanent  significance.  He  links  together  preach- 
ing and  literature,  prophetic  zeal  for  moral  princi- 
ples and  priestly  care  for  ritual,  a  wide  outlook  on 
national  destiny  and  a  keen  sense  of  the  importance 
of  individuals,  a  clear  vision  of  the  thoroughness  of 
judgment  and  a  noble  faith  in  the  new  future. 

THE  BOOK. 

The  fact  that  writing  has  begun  to  play  a  larger 
part  is  symbolized  by  the  form  in  which  the  call 
comes  to  Ezekiel.  "And  when  I  looked,  behold  a 
hand  was  put  forth  unto  me ;  and  lo,  a  roll  of  a  book 
was  therein ;  and  he  spread  it  before  me,  and  it  was 
w  ritten  within  and  without :   and  there  was  written 


198    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

therein  lamentations  and  mourning  and  woe'  (ii., 
9,  10).  He  who  received  his  call  in  this  striking 
form  has  given  us  a  book  which  in  its  very  structure 
reveals  the  order  of  his  thought.  In  this  case  it  is 
probable  that  the  book  comes  to  us  in  an  arrange- 
ment due  to  the  prophet  himself  and  controlled  by  a 
great  idea.     We  have  : 

I.  Visions,  speeches  and  symbols  from  the  time 
before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  Here  the  pic- 
tures are  dark  and  the  tone  that  of  complete  con- 
demnation. (I— XXIV). 

II.  Oracles  against  foreign  nations.  These  na- 
tions must  be  judged  and  punished  in  order  to  clear 
the  stage  for  Israel's  future  restoration  and  blessed- 
ness (XXV-XXXII). 

III.  The  picture  of  redemption  and  final  blessed- 
ness. There  shall  be  a  national  resurrection. 
The  blessedness  of  the  land  shall  provoke  the  com- 
ment: "This  land  that  was  desolate  is  become  like 
the  garden  of  Eden."  The  people  shall  have  a  new 
clean  heart.  The  old  sad  days  shall  flee  away  at  the 
words,  "Neither  will  I  hide  my  face  from  them  any 
more  for  I  have  poured  out  my  spirit  upon  the 
house  of  Israel,  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah"  (XXXIII- 
XXXIX). 

IV.  Description  of  the  new  order  of  things  when 
the  restored  tribes  shall  enjoy  in  Palestine  a  time  of 
perfect  service  to  God  and  peace  with  each  other 
(XL-XLVIII).  Even  if  the  form  in  which  we 
now  find  the  book  is  not  in  all  respects  as  it 
came  from  the  author  the  general  arrangement  of 
the  material  harmonizes  well  with  the  progress  of 
the  prophet's  thought. 


THE  PROPHET  AS  PRIEST  199 

THE   PROPHET. 

Ezekiel  is  remarkable  for  the  sternness  and 
steadfastness  with  which  he  declares  that  the 
judgment  must  be  carried  through  to  the  bit- 
ter end.  It  was  an  unwelcome  task,  but  having 
felt  the  pressure  of  the  divine  command  he  seems 
almost  to  have  a  grim  pleasure  in  reiterating  the 
mournful  message.  As  he  surveys  the  present  con- 
dition of  Jerusalem,  or  looks  back  upon  the  past 
life  of  the  nation,  he  sees  nothing  to  relieve  the 
gloom.  The  people  have  been  wicked  and  ungrate- 
ful from  the  beginning;  they  have  been  guilty  of 
black  ingratitude,  shameless  apostasy,  abominable 
idolatries.  We  are  tempted  to  call  the  prophet  dog- 
matic and  doctrinaire;  he  applies  his  standard  in 
such  a  hard  absolute  fashion.  He  has  not  the  varied 
perspective  of  Isaiah  nor  the  tender  sensitiveness  of 
Jeremiah.  He  had  his  hours  of  excitement  and  de- 
pression, but  he  is  always  marked  by  a  certain 
hardness  and  inflexibility.  All  his  visions,  para- 
bles, riddles  and  poems  tell  the  same  tale  of  Israel's 
sin,  shame  and  sorrow.  In  language  deemed  ex- 
pressive at  the  time,  but  sometimes  repulsive  to  our 
modern  taste,  the  unfaithfulness  of  Judah  is  vividly 
portrayed.  It  is  often  difficult  to  say  whether  the 
visions  are  actual  and  the  actions  real ;  but  the  mean- 
ing of  all  this  strange  symbolism  is  clear ;  the  nation 
has  come  to  the  close  of  a  long  career  of  inexcusa- 
ble wickedness.  There  is  no  hope;  only  doom  cer- 
tain and  complete.  This  is  the  immediate  outlook 
given  by  a  prophet  who  judges  all  the  people  and 
measures  all  its  history  by  the  same  absolute  stand- 
ard. 


200    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

THE    PREACHER. 

Such  a  course  of  prediction,  especially  when 
justified  by  events,  could  only  lead  to  humil- 
iation and  despair.  How  can  men  cherish  any 
hope  when  they  feel  that  the  woes  accumulated 
from  centuries  of  sin  and  shame  come  upon  them 
with  crushing  weight?  It  is  scarcely  surprising  if 
men  in  such  circumstances  cry,  "the  fathers  have 
eaten  sour  grapes  and  the  children's  teeth  are  set 
on  edge."  Indeed  there  is  some  truth  in  the  sinister 
proverb.  In  true  preacher  fashion  Ezekiel  will  take 
another  fragment  of  truth  and  wield  it  to  meet  this 
case.  Each  man  is  responsible  for  his  own  action 
and  will  receive  from  God  according  to  his  own 
deeds.  "As  I  live,  saith  Jehovah,  I  have  no  pleas- 
ure in  the  death  of  the  wicked ;  but  that  the  wicked 
turn  from  his  way  and  live ;  turn  ye,  turn  ye  from 
your  evil  ways,  for  why  will  ye  die,  O  house  of 
Israel!"  Here  is  recognition  of  the  solitary  indi- 
vidual life,  faith  in  the  possibility  of  conversion. 
The  form  in  which  the  thought  is  worked  out  is 
very  bold  and  it  seems  to  take  each  soul  and  cut  it 
clear  away  from  all  relationships  of  past  and  pres- 
ent. But  that  is  the  preacher's  business,  to  set  forth 
strongly  the  neglected  truth.  If  the  preacher  can- 
not set  forth  this  truth  of  individual  responsibilities 
in  all  its  relationship  and  show  all  its  consequences 
it  is  well  that  he  should  fling  it  forth  in  a  way  that 
will  check  despair,  quicken  thought  and  inspire 
faith.  The  fact  that  he  has  preached  such  a  power- 
ful sermon  on  the  text,  "visiting  the  iniquities  of 
the  fathers  upon  the  children,"  drives  him  to  assert 


THE  PROPHET  AS  PRIEST  201 

with  equal  boldness  that  the  individual  man  can 
throw  off  the  dead  weight  of  the  past  and  lay  hold  on 
present  mercy.  Immediate  impressiveness  rather 
than  systematic  consistency  is  the  preacher's  main 
business.  Ezekiel  with  all  his  capabilities  was  not  a 
philosopher  and  probably  did  not  feel  as  much  as  we 
do  the  pressure  of  inconsistency  in  the  varied  ele- 
ments of  his  thought. 

THE    PASTOR. 

To  save  the  church,  when  the  nation  had 
made  such  terrible  shipwreck,  something  more 
was  needed  than  elaborate  denunciations  and 
grim  symbols  of  punishment.  Some  attempt  must 
be  made  to  gather  together  "the  remnant,"  to  give 
new  hope  to  those  who  were  destined  to  keep  alive 
the  spiritual  idea.  Therefore  pastoral  responsibility 
is  set  forth  in  a  special  manner.  The  prophet  is  "a 
watchman"  set  to  blow  the  trumpet  and  warn  the 
people  of  coming  danger.  This  view  appears  in 
Amos  with  intense  vividness  and  spirituality,  but  in 
Ezekiel  the  reference  is  to  the  particular  individuals 
who  compose  the  community  rather  than  to  the 
nation  as  a  whole.  We  are  reminded  of  Baxter's 
great  discourse,  "The  Reformed  Pastor,"  which 
was  also  delivered  in  a  time  of  transition  and  per- 
secution. 

"When  I  say  unto  the  wicked,  O  wicked  man, 
thou  shalt  surely  die,  and  thou  dost  not  speak  to 
warn  the  wicked  from  his  way;  that  wicked  man 
shall  die  in  his  iniquity,  but  his  blood  will  I  re- 
quire at  thy  hand"  (xxxiii:8).  This  commis- 
sion given  in  such  terms  makes  "the  watchman" 


202    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

feel  that  it  is  a  very  solemn  thing  to  stand  between 
men  and  their  God,  weighted  with  responsibility  on 
one  hand  and  exposed  to  suspicion  and  scorn  on  the 
other.  Yet  with  all  his  seriousness  the  prophet  had 
a  certain  popularity  on  account  of  his  skill  in  speech ; 
even  to  shallow  people  there  was  a  charm  in  his 
intense  earnestness  and  his  pictorial  style.  The 
people  talked  about  him  "by  the  walls  and  in  the 
doors  of  the  houses"  and  said,  "Come,  I  pray  you, 
and  hear  what  is  the  word  that  cometh  forth  from 
Jehovah";  or,  in  modern  phrase,  let  us  go  and 
hear  the  latest  thing  in  the  way  of  a  sermon.  To 
have  the  outward  form  admired  and  the  inward 
message  rejected  is  a  tragic  fate  for  the  preacher, 
but  not  peculiar  to  any  age.  To  compliment  the 
preacher  on  his  elocution  and  treat  his  words  as 
trifles  is  the  height  of  cruelty.  "And  lo,  thou  art 
unto  them  as  a  very  lovely  song  of  one  that  hath 
a  pleasant  voice,  and  can  play  well  on  an  instru- 
ment; for  they  hear  thy  words  but  do  them  not." 
(xxxiii,  32.) 

THE    POET. 

It  is  quite  true  that  he  was  a  singer  and 
a  painter,  a  master  in  the  use  of  words,  chant- 
ing solemn  songs  or  creating  gorgeous  suggestive 
pictures.  In  these  days  of  exact  science  and  prosaic 
materialism  it  might  be  well  for  us  to  take  a  little 
more  interest  in  and  cherish  a  stronger  sympathy 
for  these  antique  poems  and  symbolic  pictures. 
From  the  artistic  point  of  view  they  may  often  be 
rude,  and  sometimes  grotesque,  but  the  main  thing 
is  the  moral  principle;  the  pictures  are  not  valued 


THE  PROPHET  AS  PRIEST  203 

for  their  own  sake  but  as  illustrations  in  a  powerful 
sermon.  This  wealth  of  oriental  imagery  may  be 
foreign  to  our  taste,  but  it  was  very  dear  to  good 
men  in  those  days  and  has  exerted  a  wonderful  in- 
fluence over  later  literature,  and  still  in  indirect 
ways  it  moulds  the  thoughts  of  men  concerning 
death  and  judgment.  Many  comparisons  might  be 
drawn  similar  to  that  suggested  by  ix  14,  and  Rev. 
vii  :  3.  Ezekiel  delights  in  parables,  riddles, 
songs,  dirges  and  elaborate  pictures ;  some  complain 
that  these  are  artificial  and  barren,  but  in  all 
cases  they  will  reward  a  careful,  sympathetic  study. 
For  his  marvelous  descriptive  powers  one  should 
read  his  predictions  concerning  foreign  nations ;  he 
decorates  the  victims  magnificently  before  announc- 
ing their  doom.  These  nations  viewed  in  this  rich 
light  seem  to  have  some  excuse  for  their  pride,  but 
they  have  ill-treated  the  chosen  people  and  their 
unchastened  arrogance  is  a  mortal  sin  against  the 
supreme  God,  therefore  they  must  die. 

THE    PRIEST. 

In  and  through  all  Ezekiel  continued  to 
be  a  priest.  Amos  and  Isaiah  lay  special 
stress  on  morality  as  opposed  to  ritual;  Zechariah 
and  Haggai  are  zealous  supporters  of  the  claims 
of  the  church  and  the  needs  of  the  sanctuary ;  Eze- 
kiel comes  between  these  two  epochs  and  stands  be- 
tween these  different  classes  of  prophets;  he  con- 
tinues to  be  a  priest  while  far  from  the  sanctuary 
and  exercising  the  ministry  of  a  prophet.  His 
great  predecessor,  Jeremiah,  sprang  from  a  priestly 
family  but  devoted  himself  entirely  to  the  work  of 


204    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

preaching ;  the  temple  was  still  standing  but  he  had 
evidently  lost  all  hope  of  cleansing  and  refining  it, 
and  in  his  teaching  there  is  nothing  of  a  distinctive 
priestly  character.  Ezekiel,  though  he  lives  in 
Babylon,  where  there  is  no  Jewish  temple,  never 
loses  his  priestly  instincts.  His  vocabulary  is  full 
of  ecclesiastical  phraseology ;  he  is  much  concerned 
with  "the  clean"  and  "the  unclean",  "the  sacred" 
and  "the  profane".  It  may  not  be  fair  to  judge  him 
from  the  modern  point  of  view  as  to  the  distinc- 
tion between  the  "moral"  and  the  "ceremonial", 
"ritual"  and  "conduct" ;  to  him  these  are  elements 
which  must  be  blended  into  a  consistent  life,  a  life 
which  links  earth  to  heaven  and  men  to  each  other. 
To  sketch  a  restored  land,  a  glorified  nation,  a  new 
temple,  was  at  such  a  time  a  great  act  of  faith,  but 
the  form  in  which  it  appears,  the  clothing  of  the 
idea,  shows  how  thoroughly  the  priestly  view  of  life 
dominates  the  man's  mind.  To  Ezekiel  the  form  is 
essential,  it  is  not  mere  drapery.  His  picture  of 
the  new  temple  is  an  important  part  of  his  polemic 
against  impure  worship,  and  it  had  a  great  share  in 
the  development  of  later  Judaism.  To  us  it  may 
seem  foreign  and  remote,  but  it  was  a  fitting  vehicle 
for  the  expression  of  his  hopes.  We  cannot  in  the 
face  of  all  his  strong  sermons  class  Ezekiel  as  a 
mere  ritualist,  but  we  must  confess  that  "the 
Church"  as  an  ecclesiastical  organization  is  for  him 
central  and  supreme.  This  side  of  the  truth  still 
needs  representation  and  if  we  are  compelled  to 
regard  this  prophet's  picture  of  a  religious  nation 
as  local  and  mechanical,  this  is  because  of  our  ap- 


THE  PROPHET  AS  PRIEST         205 

preciation  of  other  and  higher  elements  in  his  teach- 
ing. 

THE    THEOLOGIAN. 

If  Ezekiel  felt  himself  driven  to  act  as  archi- 
tect of  a  new  temple  it  was  not  because  he 
was  destitute  of  religious  ideas  and  unable  to 
live  without  the  material  sanctuary.  He  helped 
to  stimulate  theological  activity  by  the  very  rough- 
ness of  his  system  of  thought,  the  force  by  which 
disjointed  fragments  of  truth  were  flung  out  into 
a  world  that  had  lost  its  standards.  There  is 
strength  and  it  may  be  something  of  arbitrariness 
in  his  thought  of  God.  Jehovah  is  the  absolute 
ruler  who  "sanctifies  Himself",  that  is,  reveals  His 
nature  for  the  honour  of  His  own  name.  There  is 
a  certain  stiffness  in  the  manner  in  which  this  truth 
is  presented.  We  do  not  find  the  mingling  of  ten- 
derness and  sublimity  that  marks  the  fortieth  chap- 
ter of  Isaiah;  and  yet  in  a  different  way  the  same 
elements  are  in  both.  Ezekiel,  after  denouncing  the 
human  shepherds  who  neglect  the  flock,  can  give  us 
an  attractive  picture  of  God  as  the  good  shepherd. 
(xxxiv:i2.)  God  can  do  all  things,  therefore 
no  hindrance  can  stand  in  the  way  of  the  new 
Kingdom  and  Church  that  are  to  glorify  His  name. 
This  is  real  faith,  though  there  is  much  national 
limitation  in  the  mode  of  its  expression.  At  times, 
however,  it  reaches  the  highest  union  of  sublimity 
and  pathos.  When  the  prophet  sees  the  valley  of 
dry  bones  he  hears  the  question,  "Son  of  man,  can 
these  bones  live?"  There  is  reverence  as  well  as 
faith  in  the  reply,  "O,  Lord  Jehovah,  thou  knowest". 


2o6    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

There  is  faith  also  in  the  indication  of  the  means  to 
be  used.  "Prophesy  upon  these  bones,  and  say  unto 
them,  "O,  ye  dry  bones,  hear  the  word  of  Je- 
hovah." God  can  make  a  new  nation,  He  can  cause 
its  scattered  members  to  arise  out  of  the  dust  in 
response  to  the  living  word.  The  Church  will  not 
become  a  cold,  stiff,  mechanical  system  so  long  as 
this  faith  is  cherished  and  expressed  in  beautiful 
forms.  Ezekiel  may  be  a  father  to  a  class  of  "for- 
malists", but  that  will  only  be  if  men  are  content 
to  ignore  his  noblest  teachings.  No  prophet  gives 
a  fuller,  more  varied  description  of  the  work  of 
"the  Spirit".  To  this  divine  energy  he  traces  his 
own  prophetic  activity,  "the  spirit  entered  into  me, 
as  he  spoke  to  me"  (11:2;  111:24;  xi:5).  He 
knows  what  we  call  "repentance",  since  he  can  say, 
"Make  you  a  new  mind  and  a  new  spirit ;  for  why 
will  ye  die,  O  house  of  Israel?"  (xviii:3I.) 
In  connection  with  the  promise  of  restoration  there 
is  the  suggestive  statement,  "I  will  give  them  a  new 
mind  and  put  a  new  spirit  within  them"  (xi:ig). 
And  in  our  final  judgment  of  Ezekiel's  view,  it  must 
never  be  forgotten  that  besides  giving  us  a  model 
of  the  restored  land  with  its  temple  in  the  centre, 
and  sweet  idyllic  pictures  of  the  fruitfulness  and 
beauty  of  the  land,  he  has  furnished  the  charter  of 
the  new  nation  in  these  terms : 

"And  I  will  sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you,  that 
you  may  be  clean :  from  all  your  filthiness,  and 
from  all  your  idols  will  I  cleanse  you.  A  new  heart 
also  will  I  give  you,  and  a  new  spirit  will  I  put 
within  you:  and  I  will  take  away  the  stony  heart 
out  of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  you  a  heart  of 


THE  PROPHET  AS  PRIEST  207 

flesh.  And  I  will  put  my  spirit  within  you,  and 
cause  you  to  walk  in  my  statutes,  and  ye  shall  keep 
my  judgments  and  do  them"  (xxxvi  :2$-2y). 

In  order  to  do  justice  to  the  prophet  it  is  not  nec- 
essary to  read  into  these  great  words  the  clearer  and 
richer  thought  of  spiritual  regeneration  which  is 
the  centre  and  glory  of  the  Christian  faith,  but  we 
must  acknowledge  that  this  man,  with  all  his  care 
for  ritual  and  genius  for  organization,  saw  the  need 
of  inward  renewal,  and  in  his  own  way  longed  and 
prepared  for  the  higher  command,  "Ye  must  be 
born  again."  His  ecclesiastical  system  is  impos- 
sible to  us  now,  but  we  may  possess  the  same  living 
faith  in  a  God  who  can  create  a  new  church  which 
shall  hold  a  lofty  central  position  even  in  our  mod- 
ern life.  In  dealing  with  foreign  nations  Ezekiel 
does  not  strike  the  missionary  note,  the  judgment 
upon  the  peoples  is  simply  to  make  known  Jehovah's 
justice  and  prepare  the  way  for  Israel's  prosperity 
(xxxviii:25-26).  At  that  point  it  may  be  said 
that  he  stops  short  of  what  is  implied  in  his  own 
teaching;  that  may  be  so,  but  with  regard  to  his 
successors,  while  there  were  some  who  exalted  the 
ecclesiastical  and  exclusive  elements  in  Ezekiel's 
system,  there  were  others  who  saw  clearly  that 
such  truths  as  individual  responsibility  and  the  in- 
wardness of  religion  cannot  be  confined  to  any 
one  church  or  nation.  This  prophet  had  im- 
mense influence  over  his  immediate  follow- 
ers; since  then  he  has  been  neglected  and  now, 
though  he  is  not  the  most  attractive  of  the 
prophets,  we  are  slowly  learning  that  he  demands 
careful  consideration  and  is  worthy  of  reverence. 


THE  PROPHET'S  PARABLE 


"The  artist  is  a  witness  to  the  truth;  or  he  will  never 
attain  the  beautiful.  So  is  the  agriculturist;  or  he  will 
never  reap  a  harvest.  So  is  the  statesman,  building  up 
a  nation's  polity  on  the  principles  which  time  has  proved 
true,  or  else  all  his  work  crumbles  down  in  revolution ; 
for  national  revolution  is  only  the  Divine  Rejection 
stamped  on  the  social  falsehood  which  cannot  stand.  In 
every  department  of  life  man  must  work  truly  as  a  witness. 
He  is  born  for  that,  nothing  else ;  and  nothing  else  can  he 
do.  Man  the  Son  can  do  nothing  of  Himself,  but  that 
which  He  seeth  God  the  Father  do." — F.  W.  Robertson. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  PROPHET'S  PARABLE 

(Isaiah  v.  1-7;  xxviii.  23-29.  Ezekiel  xv.) 
Hosea,  speaking  in  the  name  of  Israel's  God,  says : 
"I  have  also  spoken  unto  the  prophet,  and  I  have 
multiplied  visions,  and  by  the  ministry  of  the 
prophets  have  I  used  similitudes."  This  speech  of 
God  to  the  prophets  was  a  sustained  and  varied 
process,  as  we  may  see  from  a  study  of  the  way  in 
which  they  interpreted  life  and  imparted  truth  to 
the  people.  The  prophets  spoke  many  things  in 
very  plain  language;  they  smote  the  wickedness  of 
their  time  in  words  that  could  not  be  mistaken ;  but 
in  seeking  to  present  positive  truth  in  attractive  sug- 
gestive forms  they  often  preferred  the  "simili- 
tudes," which  great  teachers  use  so  effectively  and 
which  all  classes  of  hearers  can  appreciate.  The  Old 
Testament  has  suffered  much  from  disconnected 
treatment  and  wild  allegorical  interpretations,  but 
the  most  careful  examination  of  this  great  literature 
often  brings  to  our  minds  the  words  that  Tennyson 
applies  to  the  Great  Teacher: 

"For  Wisdom  dealt  with  mortal  powers, 
Where  truth  in  closest  words  shall  fail, 
When  truth  embodied  in  a  tale 
Shall  enter  in  at  lowly  doors." 

211 


212    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

There  are  many  parables  in  the  prophetic  writ- 
ings. One  of  them,  the  parable  of  the  Vine,  will  in 
this  chapter  claim  the  greater  part  of  our  attention ; 
but  in  the  first  place  a  few  words  may  be  given  to 
the  parable  of  the  Husbandman,  which  we  find  in 
the  twenty-eighth  chapter  of  the  book  which  bears 
the  name  of  Isaiah. 

This  parable  may  have  been  spoken  by  Isaiah  to 
vindicate  God's  varied  dealings  with  the  nation,  and 
the  changing  moods  of  his  own  ministry.  If,  how- 
ever, the  view  is  accepted  that  it  is  a  later  produc- 
tion, meant  to  show  that  all  past  judgments  were 
a  preparation  for  future  blessing,  the  central  prin- 
ciple is  the  same — namely,  that  we  must  not  attrib- 
ute to  God's  government  a  senseless  mechanical 
uniformity.  The  subordinate  suggestions  also  are 
not  seriously  affected  by  the  difference  of  view  as 
to  the  exact  period  in  which  the  parable  must  be 
placed.  One  of  these  is  that  the  work  of  the  hus- 
bandman is  sacred  and  symbolic:  it  is  a  parable  of 
God's  dealing  with  nations  and  men,  as  well  as  of 
the  faithful  ministry  of  a  wise  teacher.  The  reason 
of  this  is  that  the  farmer  is  taught  by  God  how  to 
manage  different  seeds  and  plants :  each  husband- 
man is  trained  by  Jehovah,  taught  by  his  God  (26). 
His  work  shows  knowledge,  which  manifests  itself 
in  adaptation  to  each  particular  case.  "This  also 
cometh  from  Jehovah  of  hosts,  which  is  wonder- 
ful in  counsel  and  excellent  in  wisdom"  (29).  The 
Hebrew  laid  more  stress  upon  practical  wisdom 
than  on  keen  intellectual  analysis  or  brooding  mys- 
tic meditation.  Wisdom  was  careful  thought,  issu- 
ing in  strong,  consistent  living.     This  was  God's 


THE  PROPHET'S  PARABLE  213 

gift.  It  might  be  handed  down  by  tradition  or  be 
learned  by  sharp  personal  experience ;  but  it  was  not 
the  less  given  through  the  guidance  of  God ;  it  was 
in  a  very  real  sense  a  revelation.  We  need  to  go 
back  to  this  thought  of  one  God  and  one  world. 
No !  there  is  no  such  thing  as  going  back ;  we  need 
to  go  forward  and  hold  this  view  in  a  still  loftier 
fashion  that  we  may  claim  all  spheres  of  life  for 
God.  The  poet  and  the  engineer,  the  philosopher 
and  the  farmer — all  these  varied  thinkers  and  work- 
ers must,  in  order  to  attain  the  highest  service, 
link  their  work  to  the  forces  which  come  forth  from 
God  and  constantly  express  His  will. 

The  point  of  supreme  importance  is  that  different 
methods  are  used  to  meet  varying  needs,  but  all  for 
the  same  purpose.  No  living  ministry  follows  a 
cast-iron  uniform  rule  of  procedure  and  treats 
everything  in  the  same  manner.  The  farmer  may 
level  the  soil  and  smooth  it  as  well  as  tear  it  up; 
he  does  not  keep  on  ploughing  all  the  time,  he  can 
sow  and  reap ;  he  does  not  thrash  all  kinds  of  grain 
in  exactly  the  same  way,  he  has  an  appropriate 
method  for  each.  You  do  not  call  this  fickleness 
and  inconsistency  on  the  part  of  a  farmer;  you 
recognize  it  in  his  case  as  a  manifestation  of  wis- 
dom on  the  part  of  a  man  taught  by  God.  The 
farmer  is  always  seeking  the  same  thing,  fruitful- 
ness  and  blessing  as  the  result  of  toil ;  there  is  no 
real  change  of  plan  in  his  work,  only  wise  adapta- 
tion of  means  to  ends.  From  this  we  may  learn 
what  is  meant  by  the  steadfastness  of  God  and  the 
consistency  of  the  true  teacher.  The  different 
seasons  that  God  gives  in  the  world  of  nature  all 


214    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

work  toward  the  harvest.  His  different  treat- 
ment of  nations  and  the  varied  discipline  of 
the  individual  life  is  all  for  the  same  end. 
He  is  ever  working  for  righteousness  and  char- 
acter. If  Samaria  is  destroyed  and  Jerusalem 
is  preserved  it  is  for  the  same  purpose.  If  Jeru- 
salem is  protected  in  one  century  and  delivered 
over  to  the  enemy  in  the  next  it  is  all  in  pursuance 
of  the  same  plan.  If  the  prophet's  message  is  in 
one  age  mainly  of  denunciation  and  in  the  next 
chiefly  of  consolation  there  is  no  real  contradiction, 
the  same  principle  is  at  work  through  all  the 
changes.  The  changeableness  of  God  is  the  adapta- 
tion of  love  and  righteousness  to  the  changing  needs 
of  men.  He  does  not  care  for  dead  uniformity  or 
surface  consistency;  to  judge  His  plan  we  need 
deep  thoughtfulness  as  well  as  devout  reverence. 
Our  shallow  criticisms  may  simply  show  our  own 
conceit  instead  of  disproving  the  constancy  which 
hides  inflexible  purpose  behind  seeming  caprice. 
We  may  find  everywhere  illustrations  of  the  fact 
that  God  fulfils  himself  in  many  ways,  but  espe- 
cially in  the  history  of  that  redeeming  mercy  which 
finds  its  highest  manifestation  in  Jesus  Christ. 

THE   PARABLE    OF    THE   VINE. 

The  vine  played  a  great  part  in  the  life  of  Pales- 
tine, and  it  is  quite  natural  that  it  should  be  used 
in  literature  as  the  symbol  of  peace  and  blessing, 
fruitfulness  and  joy.  In  the  prophets  the  thought 
of  God's  ill-requited  toil  and  care  is  represented  by 
the  disappointed  husbandman  who  looks  in  vain 
for  the  fruit  from  the  vine  upon  which  he  has  be- 


THE  PROPHET'S  PARABLE  215 

stowed  painful  labor.  We  meet  this  similitude  first 
in  Hosea  in  a  very  brief  form,  "Israel  is  a  luxur- 
iant vine,"  but  the  fruit  is  not  of  the  right  kind — 
it  is  a  luxuriance  of  impure  worship,  not  of  noble 
deeds.  The  next  time  we  meet  this  figure  it  is  in 
the  form  of  a  finely  worked  out  poetic  parable,  one 
of  the  noblest  pieces  that  we  possess  from  the  pen 
of  the  great  Isaiah.  It  is  even  supposed  that  in  the 
early  years  of  his  ministry  the  prophet  appeared  at 
one  of  the  festivals  to  sing  before  one  of  the  assem- 
bled crowds  the  story  of  Jehovah's  love,  patient 
ministry,  the  bitter  disappointment ;  that  is  un- 
certain, but  it  is  quite  clear  that  the  union  of  privi- 
lege and  responsibility  here  finds  richer  and  sweeter 
expression.  Jehovah  is  reluctant  to  condemn  and 
destroy  that  which  he  has  created  and  cherished, 
but  what  can  He  do? 

"And  now,  O  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem, 
And  men  of  Judah, 
Judge,  I  pray  you,  betwixt  me 
And  my  vineyard. 

What  could  have  been  done  more  to  my  vineyard 
That  I  have  not  done  in  it  ? 
Wherefore  when  I  looked  that  it  should  bring  forth 

grapes 
Brought  it  forth  wild  grapes?" 

Here  is  a  touching  parable  which  in  its  first  move- 
ment must  make  a  powerful  appeal  to  the  audience, 
quickening  interest  and  rousing  curiosity,  but  the 
orator  is  determined  that  his  speech  shall  not  min- 
ister to  mere  entertainment ;  there  shall  be  no 
doubt  as  to  the  meaning  and  application  of  this 


216    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

sermon.  The  closing  sentence  is  something  that 
all  can  understand  and  that  they  cannot  easily 
forget. 

"The  vineyard  of  Jehovah  of  hosts  is  the  house 
of  Israel, 

And  the  men  of  Judah  His  pleasant  plant, 

And  He  looked  for  judgment,  but  behold  oppres- 
sion, 

For  righteousness,  but  behold  a  cry." 

After  this  we  find  the  Vine  parable  in  many 
varied  forms  of  song,  sermon  and  prayer.  In  Isaiah 
xxvii.  2-5  there  is  one  of  a  different  tone,  which 
probably  belongs  to  a  much  later  time. 

"A  vineyard  of  wine,  sing  ye  unto  it ! 
I,  Jehovah,  do  keep  it ; 
I  will  water  it  every  moment; 
Lest  any  hurt  it, 
I  will  keep  it  day  and  night. 
Fury  is  not  in  Me : 
Would  that  the  briers 
And  thorns  were  against  Me  in  battle! 
I  would  march  upon  them, 
I  would  burn  them  together, 
Or  else  let  him  take  hold  of  My  strength, 
That  he  may  make  peace  with  Me; 
Let  him  make  peace  with  Me." 

One  parable  is  a  message  of  reproach  and  con- 
demnation, the  other  a  song  of  comfort  and  cheer. 
In  Psalm  lxxx.  the  same  sweet  symbol  is  used  as  a 
plaintive  prayer;  the  blessing  of  God  which  can  be 
made  the  basis  of  powerful  exhortation  can  also 


THE  PROPHET'S  PARABLE    217 

serve  as  the  reason  for  earnest  appeal.  He  who  has 
shown  such  grace  in  the  past  will  surely  have  pity 
on  the  penitent  church.  Defeat  and  disaster  have 
lessened  pride  without  quite  destroying  faith. 

"Thou  broughtest  a  vine  out  of  Egypt : 
Thou  didst  drive  out  the  nation,  and  plantedst  it." 

"Why  hast  Thou  broken  down  her  fences, 
So  that  all  they  which  pass  by  the  way  do  pluck 
her?" 

Through  what  terrible  experience  the  nation  had 
to  pass  and  in  what  severe  tones  the  prophet  spoke 
before  the  time  of  comfort  and  hope  dawned  may 
be  seen  from  the  words  of  Jeremiah :  "Yet  I  had 
planted  thee  a  noble  vine,  wholly  a  right  seed ;  how 
then  art  thou  turned  into  the  degenerate  plant  of  a 
strange  vine  unto  me"?  (ii.  21).  Nowhere  is  the 
judgment  more  severe  and  the  threat  of  destruction 
more  complete  than  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  Ezek- 
iel,  where  the  prophet  hears  the  sharp  question, 
"What  is  the  vine  tree  more  than  any  other  tree, 
the  vine  branch  which  is  among  the  trees  of  the 
forest  ?"  If  men  still  cling  to  the  idea  that  election 
is  a  coarse  mechanical  thing,  that  Jehovah  is  bound 
to  protect  and  restore  the  nation  because  it  is  his 
heritage,  the  vine  of  his  planting,  then  they  must 
be  reminded  once  more  why  a  vine  is  planted  and 
what  is  its  true  place  among  the  trees  of  the  for- 
est. What  is  the  use  of  a  vine?  You  cannot 
build  ships  with  its  wood,  or  make  houses  from  its 
timber ;  it  is  not  fit  to  be  used  for  any  article  of 
furniture  or  common  utensil.    It  is  not  the  kind  of 


218    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

wood  that  one  would  choose  for  the  making  of  a 
paltry  peg.  What  is  the  use  of  a  vine,  especially 
one  that  has  been  thrown  into  the  fire  and  burnt  at 
both  ends?  Can  anything  more  be  done  except  to 
cast  it  again  into  the  fire  and  let  it  be  completely 
consumed  ?  But  if  the  vine  is  not  for  these  purposes 
is  it  not  one  of  the  noblest  trees  from  the  point  of 
view  of  fruit-bearing?  That  is  quite  true;  but  this 
vine  has  not  borne  the  right  kind  of  fruit,  and  here 
we  meet  the  real  point  of  the  parable,  a  point  that  is 
made  more  prominent  by  solemn  silence  than  by  elo- 
quent speech.  If  it  is  a  question  of  fruit, then  the  less 
said  of  it  the  better;  history  has  justified  Isaiah's 
parable.  Jehovah  has  visited  the  vine  in  anger  for 
the  very  reason  that  after  all  His  care,  it  did  not 
bear  good  fruit.  Israel  was  from  the  first  meant 
for  fruit-bearing,  to  bring  forth  in  her  own  time 
and  way  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  to  be  an  example 
of  a  nation  loving  truth  and  seeking  righteousness. 
But  she  did  not  covet  earnestly  the  best  of  gifts; 
she  desired  to  be  like  the  other  trees  of  the  forest. 
She  envied  the  political  pretensions  and  military 
power  of  the  great  Oriental  empires.  That  vain  splen- 
dour and  such  short-lived  power  were  not  meant 
for  her ;  in  hei  high  message  and  spiritual  vocation 
there  was  greater  glory  and  nobler  influence, 
Judged  from  the  material  and  political  point  of  view 
Israel  was  contemptible ;  she  must  seek  her  great- 
ness elsewhere  or  die.  The  vine,  with  its  rich  clus- 
ter of  luscious  grapes,  has  a  grace  and  beauty  of 
its  own;  but  the  barren  vine  pretending  to  be  a 
cedar  of  Lebanon  is  a  ridiculous  sight.  The  church 
still  needs  this  lesson ;  she  must  be  true  to  her  own 


THE  PROPHET'S  PARABLE  219 

life,  active  in  her  own  sphere,  fruitful  in  the  God- 
appointed  way.  If  she  will  leave  her  "vine  which 
cheereth  God  and  man,  and  go  and  move  to  and  fro 
over  the  trees"  she  may  gain  a  little  temporary  splen- 
dour, while  losing  the  beauty  and  power  of  real  spir- 
itual life.  The  influence  of  real  faith,  the  gentle 
power  of  genuine  goodness,  the  indirect  rule  of 
clear,  truthful  testimony,  the  silent,  effective  force 
of  character — through  these  the  church  must  work, 
and  these  spiritual  weapons  have  lost  none  of  their 
special  significance  and  supreme  power.  But  if  she 
craves  the  crown  and  the  purple,  if  she  is  dazzled 
by  the  glamour  of  the  visible  sceptre,  if  she  covets 
the  kingdoms  of  the  world  and  the  glory  of  them, 
then  the  voice  may  speak  again  in  the  same  piercing 
tones,  "What  is  the  vine  tree  more  than  all  the  trees 
of  the  forest?" 


THE  PROPHET'S  MESSAGE  OF  COMFORT 


"If  Israel  had  been  merely  a  race  like  others  it  would 
never  have  survived  this  fearful  catastrophe  and  would 
have  disappeared  in  the  Babylonian  Exile.  But  Israel  was 
the  bearer  of  an  idea ;  this  was  not  to  be  annihilated  with 
the  State,  and  its  external  destiny  was  not  closed  with 
its  political  life.  On  the  contrary.  It  seems  as  though 
only  now,  when  the  body  was  dashed  to  pieces,  was  the 
spirit  really  able  to  develop  unhampered.  The  death  that 
Judah  died  was  a  death  suffused  with  dawn." — Professor 
C.  H.  Cornill,  "The  Prophets  of  Israel." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
THE  PROPHET'S  MESSAGE  OF  COMFORT 

(Isaiah  xl.) 
This  prophecy  is  full  of  voices ;  we  can  hear  these 
voices  wail  or  sing,  we  can  catch  the  call  that  ad- 
dresses the  conscience,  and  listen  to  the  soothing 
strain  that  tenderly  appeals  to  the  weary  heart. 
There  are  also  echoes,  reflections  of  what  the 
heathen  cry  in  their  confusion  or  the  Israelites  mut- 
ter in  their  despair,  but  the  dominant  sound  is  the 
voices  of  prophets  and  heralds  bringing  a  great 
message  of  peace  and  blessing  from  the  redeeming 
God.  This  is  a  noble  piece  of  literature,  it  clothes 
the  appropriate  messages  in  such  winning  forms 
that  the  sermon  which  did  its  own  work  effectively 
has  become  a  thing  of  beauty  and  a  joy  forever. 
The  voice  has  not  died  away  or  spent  its  force.  Be- 
fore it  became  sacred  literature  it  was  a  living  mes- 
sage, coming  with  persuasive  power  from  the  depths 
of  an  inspired  soul.  We  are  thankful  for  the  book, 
and  because  we  believe  in  God  we  still  have  faith 
in  the  preacher's  voice.  Let  men  denounce  empty 
babble  with  all  the  cynical  bitterness  they  can  com- 
mand, it  will  still  remain  true  that  God  uses  the 
human  voice  as  His  instrument.  Smart  writing  and 
showy  pictures  cannot  superannuate  the  voice  that 
223 


224     PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

has  a  soul  behind  it.  The  inspiring  tones  that  call 
to  battle,  the  flaming  speech  that  denounces  sin,  the 
calm,  persuasive  plea,  the  sympathetic  words  that 
dispel  doubt  and  check  despair,  these  are  always 
needed.  They  never  did  a  nobler  work  than  when 
they  bound  up  the  wounds  of  a  broken-hearted  na- 
tion, and  declared  that  the  community  in  banishment 
and  disgrace  was  called  to  new  life  and  higher  ser- 
vice. 

We  cannot  say  of  this  preacher  that  he  is  "a  voice 
and  nothing  more,"  for  he  is  very  much  more,  he 
hears  many  voices  and  he  brings  a  manifold  mes- 
sage. Though  we  do  not  know  exactly  where  he 
lived  and  how  he  exercised  his  personal  ministry, 
his  teaching  we  may  know  and  its  place  in  the  his- 
tory of  a  great  revelation.  His  voice  at  first  spoke 
to  a  small  company ;  now  it  reaches  to  the  heart  of 
the  universal  church  and  echoes  round  the  world. 
Because  the  man  listened  so  attentively  to  the  high- 
est teaching  of  the  past  and  was  true  to  the  present 
message  God  has  vindicated  the  voice  and  given  to  it 
increasing  power.  Many  nameless  men,  careless  of 
fame  and  longing  only  for  usefulness,  have  poured 
their  life-blood  into  this  great  literature ;  surely  they 
have  their  reward ! 

This  tone  of  comfort  is  a  new  note  in  Hebrew 
prophecy;  it  is  made  necessary  by  changed  condi- 
tions, and  it  meets  a  pressing  need ;  the  boldness 
once  manifested  in  condemnation  is  now  shown  in 
consolation. 

"Speak  ye  comfortably  to  Jerusalem,  and  cry  unto 
her 


THE  PROPHET'S  MESSAGE         225 

That  her  warfare  is  accomplished,  that  her  iniquity- 
is  pardoned: 

For  she  hath  received  of  Jehovah's  hand  double 
for  all  her  sins." 

This  is  not  too  strong  for  the  work  that  has  to 
be  done;  the  position  of  the  nation  seems  quite 
hopeless.  If  the  dry  bones  are  to  live,  if  the  dead 
nation  is  to  arise  and  enter  on  a  new  career,  there 
must  be  a  breath  of  the  Eternal  Spirit.  The  brute 
force  of  the  Chaldean  power  has  crushed  Jerusalem 
and  left  it  in  ruins.  The  people  are  scattered  as 
sheep  having  no  shepherd.  In  a  time  when  misfor- 
tune was  regarded  as  a  curse  they  stand  in  disgrace 
before  God  and  the  world.  Then  their  patriotism 
and  their  piety  seemed  to  have  received  a  fatal 
wound.  These  are  the  forces  that  make  a  nation 
great ;  had  they  been  quite  withered  the  national 
life  would  have  been  completely  crushed,  a  loss  to 
the  world  and  a  dishonour  to  the  name  of  Jehovah. 
The  land  might  be  poor,  but  they  loved  it,  it  was 
the  land  of  their  fathers  and  the  gift  of  their  God. 
Their  religion  had  been  so  closely  associated  with 
Jerusalem  and  the  temple  that  it  was  hard  to  keep 
it  strong  and  inspiring  in  a  distant  place  and  an 
alien  atmosphere.  How  could  they  sing  the  song 
of  Zion  in  a  strange  land?  As  they  beheld  the 
mighty  power  of  Babylon,  its  material  splendour, 
military  strength  and  magnificent  idolatry,  their 
hearts  sank  within  them  for  fear;  many  fell  into 
scepticism  or  gave  way  to  despair. 

"Why  sayest  thou,  O  Jacob, 
And  speakest,  O  Israel; 


226    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

My  way  is  hid  from  Jehovah, 

My  judgment  is  passed  over  from  my  God?" 

Many,  no  doubt,  felt  that  they  could  fill  their 
mouths  with  arguments  and  answer  that  "Why"; 
there  seemed  to  be  so  many  reasons  for  sadness  and 
so  few  strong,  inspiring  voices.  How  can  the 
preacher  meet  such  a  desperate  case  and  justify  his 
call  to  be  a  messenger  of  consolation?  He  meets  it 
as  every  great  need  must  be  met:  by  a  great  theol- 
ogy, the  convincing  presentation  of  the  highest 
truths  concerning  God.  It  is  no  cunning  of  poetic 
art  or  skill  in  oratory  that  can  meet  the  case,  though 
these  high  gifts  can  be  consecrated  by  faith  and 
wielded  by  love.  Persuasive  arguments,  tender  songs, 
precious  promises,  noble  appeals  abound  in  this  por- 
tion of  scripture,  but  they  all  grow  out  of  a  great 
scheme  of  thought.  The  preacher  is  theologian  as 
well  as  poet,  careful  in  his  study  of  the  past  as  well 
as  quick  to  receive  the  present  revelation.  A  sublime 
conception  of  God  is  the  centre  of  his  prophecy; 
his  fearlessness  in  the  face  of  great  world  forces, 
his  quiet  scorn  of  idolatry,  his  confident  appeal  to 
the  past,  his  mighty  faith  for  the  future,  all  grow 
out  of  a  theology  that  throbs  with  new  life. 

"Lift  up  your  eyes  on  high,  and  behold 

Who  hath  created  these  things, 

That  bringeth  out  their  host  by  number : 

He  calleth  them  all  by  name;  by  the  greatness  of 

His  might, 
For  that  He  is  strong  in  power,  not  one  faileth." 
Here  everything  is   lifted  up  into  the   light  of 


THE  PROPHET'S  MESSAGE         227 

heaven  and  touched  with  the  largeness  of  the  skies ; 
local  limitations  are  beginning  to  drop  away ;  there 
is  a  spirituality  of  tone  and  universality  of  range ; 
men  struggling  with  commonplace  sorrow  and  con- 
suming care  find  it  hard  to  follow  the  prophecy  in 
its  lofty  flights.  The  prophecy  helps  to  re-create 
Judaism,  but  it  requires  something  larger  for  its 
real  fulfilment. 

The  movement  throughout  is  from  God  to  man; 
the  emphasis  is  not  so  much  on  man's  duty  as  on 
God's  sovereign  grace;  the  predominant  note  is 
promise  rather  than  exhortation,  promise  based  on 
what  God  is,  and  what  He  determines  to  do.  Here 
the  essential  divinity  and  true  spirituality  of  Je- 
hovah reach  the  highest  expression  that  was  pos- 
sible within  the  limitations  of  a  national  religion. 
He  is  the  Unique,  the  Incomparable ;  He  creates  the 
earth,  stretches  out  the  heavens,  makes  both  dark- 
ness and  light,  gives  life  to  man  and  all  the  dwellers 
on  the  earth,  controls  the  course  of  history,  decides 
the  fate  of  nations,  gives  victories  to  kings,  chooses, 
chastises  and  restores  His  own  people.  All  this 
He  does  as  a  living  God.  It  is  not  the  story  of  facts 
in  the  distant  past  but  the  recognition  of  a  present 
process;  religion  to  the  prophets  is  not  mere  his- 
tory but  actual  life.  Wonders  are  not  confined  to 
the  Exodus  of  long  ago,  they  shall  be  repeated ;  Je- 
hovah will  give  "waters  in  the  wilderness  and  rivers 
in  the  desert,"  so  that  the  ransomed  of  Jehovah  may 
return  and  come  to  Zion.  The  nation  may  have 
been  severely  chastised,  sent  to  a  hard  school,  but 
the  restitution  to  favour,  the  justification  in  the  arena 
of  history  and  the  face  of  the  world,  proceeds  not 


228    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

from  its  merits  or  any  virtues  of  its  penance,  but 
from  the  power  and  purpose  of  the  Eternal  God. 

Hence  the  thought  of  election  plays  a  great  part ; 
now  that  the  outlook  is  world-wide,  it  expresses 
the  special  relation  of  Israel  to  Jehovah.  This  is 
the  charter  of  salvation. 

"But  thou,  Israel,  art  My  servant, 

Jacob  whom  I  have  chosen, 

The  seed  of  Abraham,  My  friend. 

Thou  whom  I  have  taken   from  the  ends  of  the 

earth 
And  called  thee  from  the  corners  thereof, 
And  said  unto  thee,  Thou  art  My  servant, 
I  have  chosen  thee,  and  not  cast  thee  away." 

This  is  the  real  refuge  for  the  soul  in  hours  of 
distress ;  this  is  the  strength  of  the  nation  in  times 
of  defeat;  God's  choice  is  the  manifestation  of  His 
own  wise  purpose  and  shall  not  utterly  fail.  When 
there  is  no  help  or  hope  in  man  lift  your  eyes  to 
the  throne  of  the  Eternal.  This  thought  of  election 
can  be  held  in  a  crude  fashion ;  it  can,  when  reduced 
to  a  narrow  dogma,  be  made  to  exclude  the  very 
things  that  God  includes  in  it.  Election  does  not 
deny  evolution ;  rightly  understood,  these  may  be 
complementary  thoughts  representing  two  sides  of 
the  same  fact.  Election  does  not  mean  low  favorit- 
ism on  which  any  class  or  clique  can  legitimately 
rest  its  spiritual  pride.  Precisely  in  this  section 
where  God's  election  of  His  people  is  most  nobly 
vindicated  in  the  face  of  the  most  distressing  con- 
tradictions, the  missionary  idea  comes  to  its  fullest 
expression.    That  Jehovah  is  the  God  of  the  whole 


THE  PROPHET'S  MESSAGE         229 

world  means  mercy  for  mankind  and  not  a  monop- 
oly for  the  Jew.  That  the  Jews  shall  be  restored 
because  God  has  something  for  them  to  do  for  the 
great  world  and  not  merely  something  for  them  to 
enjoy  within  themselves,  is  the  central  feature  of 
this  prophecy.  Hence  the  word  "comfort"  here 
has  no  selfish  meaning  or  effeminate  associations: 
it  has  the  idea  of  strengthening  which  was  in  the 
word  before  we  spoiled  it.  The  prophecy  of  com- 
fort is  a  nobler  presentation  of  God,  a  deeper  read- 
ing of  history,  a  larger  outlook  upon  life,  a  call  to 
conquer  difficulties  and  draw  sweetness  out  of  sor- 
row, a  declaration  that  the  small  people  who  possess 
a  great  truth  are  mightier"  than  the  colossal  empire, 
an  assurance  that  the  word  of  God  liveth  and  abid- 
eth  for  ever. 


THE  PROPHET  A  PREACHER  TO  HIS  AGE 


"What  then  is  Apollos?  And  what  is  Paul?  Ministers 
through  whom  ye  believed ;  and  each  as  the  Lord  gave  to 
him.  I  planted,  Apollos  watered ;  but  God  gave  the  in- 
crease." "Wherefore  let  no  one  glory  in  men.  For  all 
things  are  yours;  whether  Paul,  or  Apollos,  or  Cephas,  or 
the  world,  or  life,  or  death,  or  things  present,  or  things 
to  come;  all  are  yours;  and  ye  are  Christ's;  and  Christ 
is  God's."— i  Cor.  iii.,  5-6,  21-23. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  PROPHET  A  PREACHER  TO  HIS  AGE 

(Isaiah  xl  ) 
The  immense  difference  in  tone  between  this  and 
the  earlier  portions  of  prophetic  literature  leads 
naturally  to  a  consideration  of  an  important  ques- 
tion, the  adaptation  of  each  prophecy  to  the  time 
when  it  was  delivered.  A  generation  ago  men  em- 
phasized, perhaps  unduly,  the  prophet's  relation  to 
the  future;  now  it  is  the  fashion  to  insist  upon  the 
need  of  taking  as  our  starting  point  his  actual  con- 
tact with  the  circumstances  of  his  day,  and  his  dis- 
tinctive message  to  his  own  age.  It  may  be  worth 
while,  then,  to  try  to  make  a  little  clearer  to  our 
own  thought  what  is  meant  by  the  statement  that 
the  prophet  was  primarily  a  preacher  and  that  his 
immediate  aim  was  to  bring  to  his  contemporaries 
a  clearer  vision  of  God,  and  a  stronger  sense  of  re- 
sponsibility to  the  righteous  King  who  has  called 
the  nation.  Stated  even  in  this  bald  fashion  we 
can  see  at  once  that  "preaching  to  the  times"  in  a 
low,  vulgar  sense  is  excluded;  the  prophets  were 
not  "popular  preachers"  in  a  base  sense.  They  may 
at  times  have  used  means  of  attracting  attention 
which  seem  strange  to  our  modern  tastes,  but  they 
did  not  deliberately  cater  to  a  sensation-loving  pub- 
233 


234    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

lie ;  they  were  not  content  to  dress  in  plausible  form 
the  average  opinion  of  the  day;  they  did  not  per- 
form curious  tricks  to  catch  popular  applause. 
There  were  such  prophets  in  Israel,  as  elsewhere, 
but  they  are  gone  and  their  miserable  little  sermons 
have  perished  with  them.  When  we  use  the  word 
"prophet"  now  we  refer  to  those  choice  spirits  who 
dared  and  suffered  all  for  truth  and  righteousness ; 
in  what  sense  then  were  they  "preachers  to  the 
times"? 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  they  uttered  predictions 
more  or  less  definite  in  their  nature,  but  it  may  be 
shown  that  these  were  also  a  part  of  the  preaching. 
The  clear  statements  of  judgment  given  by  Amos  and 
Jeremiah  did  not  refer  to  some  remote  event  out  of 
all  relation  to  the  present,  but  to  an  actual  chastise- 
ment near  at  hand,  the  whirlwind  to  be  reaped  by 
those  who  were  so  diligently  sowing  the  wind.  It 
is  to  be  noted  that,  as  in  the  case  of  Micah's  predic- 
tion concerning  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  the 
prediction  was  sometimes  far  ahead  of  its  accom- 
plishment (Micah  iii.  12;  Jer.  xxvi.  18).  Neither 
is  it  meant  to  question  the  fact  that  from  these  men 
we  receive  prophecies  in  the  larger  sense.  In  this 
sense,  that  their  preaching  contained  a  God-given 
revelation  of  truth,  truth  in  many  cases  seen  and 
applied  for  the  first  time,  truth  so  vital  that  when 
we  pierce  behind  the  drapery  and  find  its  real  mean- 
ing we  gain  an  eternal  principle  applicable  to  all 
time,  truth  that  in  its  simplest  form  possesses  the 
promise  of  infinite  growth ;  the  preaching  of  such 
truth  may  well  be  called  prophetic,  in  that  it  both 
promises   and    prepares    for   a   larger   and   clearer 


A  PREACHER  TO  HIS  AGE  235 

manifestation  of  God.  Truths  which  we  to- 
day may  confirm  by  a  philosophic  survey  of  history 
they  received  by  living  inspiration  and  the  direct 
vision  of  life.  Hence  it  is  good  for  us  to  have  fel- 
lowship with  them  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  the 
divine  life  into  the  commonplaces  of  our  own  creed. 
Prophecies  of  what  must  come  to  pass  in  a  world 
ruled  by  a  living  and  righteous  God  these  men  have 
given  us ;  visions  of  a  nobler  nation,  a  purer  church, 
a  true  anointed  King;  except  in  the  case  of  a  few 
scattered  and  separate  poems  these  prophecies  also 
had  a  living  relationship  to  the  prophet's  activity  as 
a  preacher. 

What  is  meant,  then,  is  that  prophecy  was  a  real 
ministry,  not  an  artificial  production ;  the  particular 
prophecy  was  in  the  noblest  sense  a  sermon,  and 
God  does  not  inspire  the  great  sermon  a  century  be- 
fore it  is  needed  or  intelligble.  There  are  poems 
and  songs  in  the  Old  Testament  so  short  and  con- 
sisting of  such  general  expressions  that  it  may  be 
difficult  to  say  in  just  what  generation  they  arose. 
But  in  the  case  of  a  large  section  of  prophecy  there 
is  a  historical  background,  a  theological  tone,  a  lin- 
guistic character  which  fixes  the  author  in  a  partic- 
ular age ;  when  that  age  is  discovered  the  real  light 
is  thrown  on  the  situation  so  that  we  can  see  how 
the  God-sent  messenger  met  the  needs  of  his  own 
generation.  Instead  of  this  discovery  limiting  the 
prophecy  and  making  it  appear  antiquated  it  frees 
it  for  larger  service,  and  reveals  its  permanent 
power.  The  thing  that  is  antiquated  is  the  thing 
that  is  utterly  unintelligible,  that  has  no  known  rela- 
tion to  your  life,  or  to  any  life  that  you  know.    The 


236    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

prophet,  therefore,  resembles  other  great  poets  and 
teachers  in  this,  that  we  must  enter  into  the  large 
field  of  his  thought  through  the  narrow  gateway 
of  his  local  circumstances.  Because  he  spoke  so  ap- 
propriately to  his  own  age,  we  must  study  that  age 
if  we  are  to  understand  him ;  because  he  spoke  so 
powerfully  to  his  own  time  he  may  really  minister 
to  us. 

Thus,  much  more  is  meant  than  can  be  com- 
pressed into  a  few  sentences,  but  one  more  thought 
must  for  our  present  purpose  be  emphasized;  if  the 
prophet  did  not  as  a  rule  preach  that  which  referred 
only  to  the  future,  neither  did  he  repeat  in  a  mechan- 
ical fashion  the  message  that  had  been  addressed 
to  a  previous  age.  The  latter  is  always  a  real  dan- 
ger in  the  case  of  the  preacher,  for  it  is  a  thing  that 
superficial  people  demand.  The  preacher  is  not  a 
reciter  but  an  interpreter ;  he  may  make  effective  use 
of  sacred  texts  and  forms  that  are  hallowed  by  sa- 
cred associations,  but  it  is  his  business  to  reincarnate 
and  vocalize  the  eternal  truth  that  lies  behind  all 
texts  and  dogmas.  The  man  of  to-day  must  hear  the 
wonderful  story  in  his  own  tongue. 

Take  one  simple  illustration  of  this  variety,  elas- 
ticity and  adaptation  of  living  prophecy.  In  the 
days  of  David  Jerusalem  became  the  political  capi- 
tal and  to  some  extent  the  religious  centre  of  Israel. 
When  the  northern  tribes  broke  away,  the  position 
of  the  city  relatively  to  its  territory  became  more  im- 
portant ;  Jerusalem  represented  Judea ;  Zion  to  the 
patriot  and  poet  became  the  city  of  the  great  King. 
What,  then,  was  the  position  of  the  great  prophets 
as  to  the  fate  of  this  city  in  the  coming  judgment? 


A  PREACHER  TO  HIS  AGE  237 

Micah,  the  peasant  prophet,  as  we  have  seen,  pre- 
dicted that  "Jerusalem  shall  become  heaps,  and 
the  mountain  of  the  house  as  the  high  places 
of  a  forest."*  The  prophet  Isaiah  was  a  citi- 
zen of  Jerusalem,  and  exercised  his  strenuous 
faithful  ministry  within  its  walls.  He  was  in  the 
main  a  prophet  of  judgment  and  on  the  whole  his 
outlook  was  gloomy.  The  nation  is  to  be  punished 
for  the  folly  of  rulers  and  for  the  faithlessness  of 
the  people,  Jerusalem  is  to  receive  severe  chastise- 
ment (i.  24-26).  But  at  one  period  of  his  life, 
when  "The  Assyrian  came  down  like  a  wolf  on  the 
fold,"  Isaiah  declared  that  the  invader  should  be 
discomfited  and  driven  back.  When  his  prediction 
was  in  some  way  fulfilled,  the  people  went  wild  with 
joy,  and  the  prophet's  influence  was  for  the  time 
being  increased.  A  man  of  Isaiah's  faith  and  tem- 
per could  not  minister  to  such  shallow,  selfish  sat- 
isfaction, and  for  him  the  battle  of  righteousness 
continued  to  be  severe.  It  is  easy,  however,  to  see 
how  out  of  such  comfort  as  he  did  give,  coloured  as 
it  was  by  his  contempt  for  the  proud  Assyrian  and 
his  love  for  the  sacred  city,  men  might  construct  a 
doctrine  of  the  inviolability  of  Jerusalem,  and  con- 
nect it  with  his  teaching.  A  glorious  doctrine  many 
people  thought  it  to  be,  that  Jerusalem  cannot  under 
any  circumstances  be  desecrated  by  the  foreign  foe 
because  it  is  a  sacred  citadel,  the  dwelling  place  of 
Jehovah,  f 

When  in  the  next  century  Jerusalem  possesses  in 
the  person  of  Jeremiah  a  great  prophet  spending 


*See  Chapter  IV.    fSee  Chapter  XV,  page  186. 


238    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

his  energy  through  long  years  within  its  walls,  or- 
thodox Jews  will  certainly  ask  him  to  respect  a 
truth  so  ancient  and  of  such  noble  ancestry.  He 
cannot  do  that;  he  must  respect  his  own  message. 
This  so-called  truth  was  not  taught  in  that  crude 
form  by  the  great  Isaiah,  and  even  if  in  his  own  day 
he  had  taught  any  such  doctrine,  he  would  have  been 
the  last  man  to  desire  to  fetter  those  who  were  to 
follow  him.  Jeremiah  taught  the  destruction  of  the 
city,  and  if  the  worshippers  of  the  past  had  not  been 
confronted  by  a  precedent  his  career  might  have 
been  cut  short ;  as  it  was,  he  was  spared  to  reiterate 
the  solemn  warning.*  In  his  day  Jerusalem  was 
doomed,  the  avenger  was  at  the  door,  there  was  no 
hope  of  deliverance,  the  only  path  of  safety  must  be 
sought  in  submission  to  the  God-sent  conqueror. 

In  the  following  century  comes  the  prophet  of 
consolation  to  declare  that  Jerusalem  has  been  suf- 
ficiently punished  and  that  the  hour  of  restoration 
is  at  hand. 

"Go  ye  forth  of  Babylon, 
Flee  ye  from  the  Chaldeans, 
With  a  voice  of  singing  declare  ye, 
Tell  this,  utter  it  even  to  the  end  of  the  earth ;  say 

ye, 

Jehovah  hath  redeemed  His  servant  Jacob." 

(Isaiah  xlviii.  20.) 

Here  are  three  different  messages  relating  to  the 
sacred  city ;  they  are  not  inconsistent,  though  differ- 
ent in  outward  form  they  possess  a  living  harmony. 

*See  Chapter  XIV,  page  169;  Chapter  XV,  page  186. 


A  PREACHER  TO  HIS  AGE  239 

The  prophets  were  all  of  them  patriots ;  they  loved 
the  city  of  their  fathers  and  the  sanctuary  of  their 
God,  and  they  longed  for  the  new  Jerusalem  where- 
in dwelleth  righteousness. 

The  same  principle  applies  now  to  the  experience 
of  an  individual  or  the  life  of  a  community.  There 
is  a  time  when  the  word  of  Isaiah,  "Not  yet,"  is 
available  and  appropriate.  God  is  long-suffering,  He 
gives  many  warnings ;  repentance  and  consistency 
may  yet  avert  or  modify  the  threatened  doom. 
Coming  along  the  same  course  we  meet  the  word 
of  Jeremiah,  "Too  late" ;  not  too  late  to  repent  and 
pray,  but  too  late  to  turn  away  the  physical  conse- 
quences; the  Chaldean  is  at  the  gate,  the  hour  of 
chastisement  has  come,  there  is  only  one  way  out  of 
the  distress,  namely,  to  submit  and  acknowledge 
that  the  Lord  is  just.  Then  there  may  come,  when 
sorrow  has  done  its  work,  the  great  word,  "Comfort 
ye,  my  people,  saith  your  God." 

"For  a  small  moment  have  I  forsaken  thee; 
But  with  great  mercies  will  I  gather  thee." 

(liv.  7.) 

"Behold  I  have  refined  thee,  but  not  with  silver; 
I  have  chosen  thee  in  the  furnace  of  affliction." 

(xlviii.  10.) 

The  only  thing  that  has  changed  is  the  life  of 
man ;  truth  and  righteousness  remain  the  same,  the 
redemptive  purpose  is  the  same;  but  prophecy 
which  brings  the  eternal  forces  to  bear  on  man's 
changing  circumstances  and  needs,  shows  a  living 
flexibility  and   power  of  adaptation,   so   that  the 


240    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

prophet  by  going  below  the  surface  currents  of  his 
own  age  and  ministering  to  its  deepest  needs  has 
left  a  word  which  is  "not  for  an  age  but  for  all 

time." 


THE  PROPHET'S  NATIONAL  IDEAL 


"The  Servant  of  the  Lord.  There  are  two  questions 
which  the  reader  of  Isaiah  should  keep  well  apart.  The 
first  is,  In  whom  have  the  prophet's  ideas  of  the  Servant, 
his  sinlessness,  vicarious  suffering  and  spiritual  power, 
been  verified  in  fact  and  history?  And  the  answer  of  all 
interpreters  is,  In  Jesus  the  Messiah.  The  answer  was 
given  by  the  contemporaries  of  Christ,  and  it  was  given 
by  His  own  consciousness.  The  other  question  is,  What 
subject  had  this  prophet  in  his  own  mind  when  he  spoke 
of  the  Servant?  Very  various  answers  have  been  given 
to  this  question.  What  is  of  moment  is  the  prophet's 
ideas,  which  enriched  and  deepened  the  religious  thought 
of  mankind  before  the  Lord  came,  and  were  seen  to  be 
verified  in  Him  when  He  came." — The  late  Rev.  A.  B. 
Davidson,  LL.  D.,  "The  Temple  Isaiah,"  xxvii. 


CHAPTER  XX 
THE  PROPHET'S  NATIONAL  IDEAL 

THE  SERVANT  OF  JEHOVAH 

(Isaiah  xli.  8-n.) 

There  is  one  point  accepted  by  all  students  of 
this  section  of  the  prophetic  literature,  namely  this, 
that  Israel  the  nation  is  clearly  set  forth  as  "the 
Servant  of  Jehovah."  The  differences  that  have  ex- 
cited so  much  discussion  concern  the  literary  char- 
acter of  the  various  passages,  their  relation  to  each 
other,  the  conception  that  shall  do  justice  to  all  of 
them  and  bind  them  into  a  living  unity,  and  their 
final  fulfilment.  Our  present  concern  is  with  the 
one  point  upon  which  all  interpreters,  ancient  or 
modern,  Jewish  or  Christian,  are  agreed.  This  idea 
in  its  present  setting  is  one  of  the  noblest  that  God 
has  ever  given  to  the  human  mind;  it  is  still  an 
ideal  which  Christian  statesmen  ought  to  cherish 
in  spite  of  the  popular  notion  that  generous  senti- 
ments are,  if  suitable  for  any  sphere  of  politics, 
specially  out  of  place  in  the  international  realm. 

In  the  ministry  of  the  prophets  the  message  is 
mainly  to  the  nation.  It  is  in  the  dark  days  when 
the  nation  is  breaking  to  pieces  that  the  problems 
of  individual  life  and  personal  experience  gain 
greater  prominence.  Noble  individual  life  is,  of 
243 


244    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

course,  manifested  in  the  earlier  stage;  unless  the 
prophet  had  been  a  man  of  rich  spiritual  experience 
he  could  not  have  done  his  great  work,  and  he  must 
have  felt  that  the  nation  could  respond  to  the  divine 
call  only  in  so  far  as  the  individual  members,  and 
especially  the  rulers,  were  moved  by  a  nobler  spirit. 
But  in  the  later  days  the  questions  that  concern  the 
life  of  the  individual  soul  begin  to  demand  more 
careful  consideration.  The  great  leaders  of  the 
Hebrew  people  had  from  the  first  the  idea  of 
a  special  relationship  between  Jehovah  and  the 
nation.  He  brought  them  out  of  Egypt  and 
gave  them  their  land,  hence  they  were  called 
to  be  His  servants.  This  idea  was  held  in  a 
limited  simple  form  by  the  noblest  men.  The  popu- 
lar tendency  and  the  influence  of  the  new  land 
worked  largely  in  the  direction  of  degradation.  The 
growth  of  Israel's  religion  cannot  be  called  "nat- 
uralistic" in  any  bad  sense ;  it  was  a  high  religious 
discipline  and  a  great  spiritual  struggle.  The  work 
of  the  inspired  teachers  was  to  keep  alive  the  lofty 
thought  of  God;  this,  as  we  have  seen,  was  only 
possible  through  a  process  that  involved  the  enlarge- 
ment of  that  idea.  Through  the  fuller  realization 
of  what  is  meant  by  the  righteousness  of  God  and 
the  service  due  to  Him  there  comes  a  grander  con- 
ception of  the  nation's  calling  and  destiny.  We 
take,  then,  the  thought  of  Israel  as  the  servant  of 
Jehovah  at  the  stage  when  it  receives  its  richest- 
meaning  and  widest  range.  That  a  nation  can  be  a 
servant  of  God,  a  minister  of  the  highest,  may  be 
held  in  a  crude  way,  and  may  even  tend  to  narrow- 
ness rather  than  breadth ;  but  that  is  on  account  of 


PROPHET'S  NATIONAL  IDEAL      245 

our  infirmity  which  drags  down  the  sublimest  prom- 
ise to  our  own  low  level.  In  itself  it  is  a  creative 
principle  carrying  the  promise  of  true  catholicity. 

This  strong  statement  of  the  call  of  the  nation  to 
higher  service  is  given  as  part  of  a  message  of  com- 
fort to  a  people  cut  off  from  their  land  and  in  dan- 
ger of  losing  all  hope;  it  is  once  more  the  venture 
of  faith.  The  most  daring  word  is  uttered  in  the 
darkest  hour.  It  is  grounded  on  the  most  glorious 
teaching  concerning  the  character  of  God,  and  in- 
fuses a  nobler  meaning  into  the  thought  of  election. 
Jesus  Christ  has  fulfiled  the  idea  on  its  individual 
side,  interpreting,  completing  and  incorporating  in 
His  own  life  all  that  was  most  sacred  and  divine  in 
the  life  of  the  nation,  this  does  not  mean  that  the 
view  needs  now  to  be  appreciated  and  assimilated 
in  order  that  it  may  find  a  higher  fulfilment.  It 
brings  the  completion  of  all  the  past  and  the  hope 
of  all  the  future.  The  teaching  contained  in  this 
rather  that  it  is  to  be  enriched  by  all  the  conflicts 
that  have  deepened  and  enlarged  the  personal  life. 

All  this  is  true,  commonplace  and  important.  Let 
us  now  confine  ourselves  for  a  little  while  to  a  still 
narrower  sphere  and  ask,  did  not  these  words  re- 
ceive a  real  fulfilment  in  the  career  of  the  Jew 
even  in  its  broken,  disappointing  forms  ?  The  mod- 
ern Jew  came  out  of  Babylon.  The  strange  ordeal 
of  the  Babylonian  exile  did  not  create  the  Jew  but 
it  left  a  deep  mark  upon  him.  The  Jew  still  carries 
with  him  influences  from  the  earliest  days ;  at  no 
stage  was  the  break  with  the  past  absolute.  Some 
of  these  influences  may  be  difficult  to  detect,  but  the 


246    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

effects  of  the  great  captivity  are  easily  found ;  they 
are  clearly  manifest  in  Jewish  social  life  and  relig- 
ious customs,  and  we  may  find  them  in  our  own 
homes  and  churches.  When  all  proper  qualifica- 
tions have  been  made  concerning  previous  prepara- 
tion and  later  development  the  statement  is  substan- 
tially correct  that  the  modern  Jew  came  from  Baby- 
lon. Speaking  of  the  Jew  we  venture  to  assert  that 
the  prophet's  faith  was  justified,  and  that  through 
the  God-given  discipline  he  did  become  in  a  real 
sense  the  servant  of  Jehovah.  This  does  not  mean 
simply  that  the  Jew  made  sacrifices  for  his  religion, 
restored  his  temple,  built  a  hedge  around  the  law 
and  continued  to  call  on  the  name  of  Jehovah.  No ! 
the  phrase  "servant  of  Jehovah"  must  be  tested  in 
the  highest  light.  It  must  be  taken  to  mean  that 
which  Jesus  Christ  meant  by  it,  and  that  which  the 
noblest  men  of  to-day  are  seeking  to  realize ;  it  must 
be  referred  to  a  service  of  God  which  is  also  the 
service  of  humanity.  In  this  sense  the  Jewish  na- 
tion has  not  been  an  utter  failure,  though  it  lost  the 
highest  vocation  through  blind  unbelief. 

THE   JEW   OF   COMMERCE. 

The  Jew  considered  as  a  trader  does  not  seem  a 
promising  subject  to  which  to  apply  the  sacred  title 
"Servant  of  Jehovah";  but  that  is  owing  to  the 
smallness  of  our  faith,  and  to  our  arbitrary  division 
of  the  sacred  from  the  secular.  There  is  no  more 
pressing  need  in  the  modern  world  than  the  con- 
quest of  commerce  for  Christ,  but  it  cannot  be  ac- 
complished unless  we  believe  that  through  trade 
men  may  serve  God.     It  is  a  pity  if  it  is  simply 


PROPHET'S  NATIONAL  IDEAL      247 

greed  of  gain  that  breaks  down  the  aristocratic 
prejudice  against  soiling  one's  hands  with  trade. 
Commerce  must  be  recognized  as  a  mighty  force 
for  binding  men  together,  a  powerful  influence  for 
mutual  helpfulness.  The  Jew  was  not  always  a 
mere  trader;  in  the  oldest  days  he  was  a  wanderer 
and  a  warrior;  then  he  became  a  cultivator  of  the 
soil,  having  as  his  ideal  of  peace  and  prosperity  to 
sit  under  his  own  vine  and  fig-tree,  no  one  daring 
to  make  him  afraid.  It  is  true  that  the  Jew,  as  typi- 
fied in  Jacob,  possessed  in  large  measure  the  ca- 
pacity to  trade  and  the  tendency  to  cheat;  it  can- 
not, however,  be  claimed  by  friend  or  foe  that  he 
has  had  a  monoply  of  these  capabilities.  When  the 
Jew  against  his  own  will  was  cut  off  from  his  own 
land  and  driven  out  into  a  cold,  cruel  world  he 
was  compelled  to  take  to  trade  with  new  energy  and 
on  a  different  scale.  Since  then  he  has  never  left 
that  field  of  operations.  The  Christian  charity  that 
has  been  exercised  towards  him  has  consisted  in 
driving  him  from  the  soil  and  scorning  him  for 
trading,  denouncing  his  greed  and  stealing  his 
gains.  If  the  lion  of  Judah  has  been  transformed 
into  the  fox  of  the  Ghetto,  "Christian"  nations  are 
not  free  from  blame.  A  sympathetic  reading  of  his 
history,  even  in  this  sphere,  will  show  that  in  the 
midst  of  all  that  is  sordid  and  mean  the  tragic  and 
heroic  are  not  lacking.  We  now  see  that  there  are 
many  ways  of  serving  society,  and  ministering  to 
the  general  life  of  the  world;  even  in  carrying  on 
the  hard  struggle  for  their  own  existence  honest, 
diligent  men  build  up  the  common  fabric.  Unless 
a  man  is  blinded  by  senseless  anti-Semitic  fury  he 


248    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

must  confess  that  the  providence  which  scattered 
the  Jews  and  turned  these  narrow  patriots  into  cos- 
mopolitan traders  was  working  in  the  interest  of 
a  higher  and  more  complex  civilization. 

THE   LITERARY    JEW. 

There  were  books  and  scribes  long  before  the 
captivity  in  Babylon,  but  these  literary  forces  play 
a  much  larger  part  in  the  life  and  religion  of  the 
people  after  that  momentous  event.  The  Jew  comes 
from  that  great  city  with  a  book  in  his  hand,  a  book 
that  has  exercised  a  tremendous  influence  over  the 
higher  life  of  the  world.  The  making  of  literature 
had  long  been  in  process,  but  the  formation  of  a 
"canon"  or  collection  of  sacred  books  begins  or  at 
least  receives  a  new  impetus.  The  religion  that 
centres  round  the  book  may  tend  to  become  stiffer, 
more  conventional ;  but  it  is  purer,  more  intellectual, 
better  fitted  to  go  out  and  meet  with  other  forces 
in  the  larger  arena  of  international  conflict.  The 
meeting  of  Hebrew  and  Greek  thought  is  of  im- 
mense significance  for  the  intellectual  and  re- 
ligious life  of  mankind,  but  first  the  Jew  must 
gather  and  preserve  the  great  treasures  from  the 
past,  reflect  upon  them,  develop  them  and  apply 
them  to  his  own  life.  The  nobler  class  of  Jews 
when  cut  off  from  fatherland  and  temple  were 
thrown  back  upon  the  past.  They  came  then  to  a 
clear  consciousness  of  the  great  value  of  that  her- 
itage bequeathed  by  historians  and  legislators,  poets 
and  prophets.  There  was  begotten  in  the  minds 
of  some  the  strong  conviction  that  here  was  some- 
thing  superior   to   the    material   splendour  of   the 


PROPHET'S  NATIONAL  IDEAL      249 

world's  greatest  cities,  something  that  would  sus- 
tain them  in  the  darkest  hour ;  a  sacred  litera- 
ture from  whose  inspiration  the  fires  of  patriot- 
ism and  piety  might  constantly  be  rekindled.  The 
business  of  the  scribe  may  in  the  end  have  be- 
come a  dreary,  mechanical  thing,  but  it  had  its 
living  period  and  it  served  a  high  purpose.  The 
Christian  church  did  not  create  the  Old  Tes- 
tament and  did  not  collect  its  various  docu- 
ments. The  Jew  toiled  to  bring  together  these 
fragments  of  sacred  literature  and  fought  desper- 
ately to  preserve  them  from  destruction ;  in  that  he 
did  a  larger  work  than  he  dreamed  of,  and  was  a 
servant  of  God  and  man. 

THE  MISSIONARY  JEW. 

The  Jew  was  not  directly  a  missionary,  but  with 
a  measure  of  truth  it  may  be  said  that  he  was  a 
missionary  in  spite  of  himself.  He  not  only,  under 
God's  providence,  prepared  a  book  which  was  to 
become  a  common  and  valued  possession  of  many 
races ;  in  the  foreign  land  he  was  led  to  adopt  a  sim- 
ple form  of  worship,  praise,  prayer  and  study  of 
Scripture  which  has  proved  helpful  to  later  genera- 
tions. The  scattered  communities  of  Jews  might  be 
despised  by  Greeks  and  Romans  among  whom  they 
dwelt,  but  did  not  doubt  their  own  superiority. 
They  exulted  in  the  thought  that  they  alone  pos- 
sessed "the  oracles  of  God",  and  in  the  very  hour 
when  they  claimed  the  monopoly  of  this  great  treas- 
ure they  were  unconsciously  preparing  the  way  for 
a  new  missionary  movement.  The  nation  must  be 
judged  by  what  it  has  done  in  the  long  range  of  its 


250    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

history ;  and  not  simply  by  its  failure  in  the  supreme 
hour,  nor  by  the  spirit  manifested  in  the  most  bigoted 
of  its  members.  The  Jews  of  the  pre-Christian  era 
served  the  interests  of  humanity  and  from  this  peo- 
ple sprung  the  first  apostles  and  missionaries  of  the 
new  faith.  The  prophet's  faith  then,  was  abund- 
antly justified  when  he  regarded  the  proud  Orien- 
tal empire  as  doomed  to  disappear  while  his  own 
people  possessed  an  abiding  life.  A  calm  survey 
of  the  facts,  without  any  special  pleading,  leads  us 
to  confess  that  God  chose  this  people  for  peculiar 
service,  and  did  not  altogether  cast  them  away. 


THE  PROPHETIC  MISSIONARY  IDEA 


"We  are  here  at  the  religious  summit  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. Israel's  consciousness  of  its  missionary  vocation 
has  indeed  shown  its  influence,  in  many  ways,  in  later 
books ;  but  never  again  with  such  lofty  thought  or  deep 
feeling.  Before  us  stands  the  picture  of  a  heathen  mis- 
sionary, sketched  in  evangelical  colours.  It  is  self-evident 
that  he  does  not  lack  the  Old  Testament  background. 
Duhm  observes,  on  this  point,  that  the  songs  of  the  Ser- 
vant of  Jehovah  are  essentially  limited  to  the  formal  side 
of  religion,  without  teaching  things  new  and  higher ;  it 
would  be  unfair  if  on  account  of  such  expectation  we  were 
to  lower  the  significance  of  these  songs.  We  must  re- 
member that  here  for  the  first  time  a  member  of  the  Jewish 
community  is  thought  of  as  a  missionary  who  goes  out 
to  the  despised,  'stupid'  heathen — the  conversion  is  not 
Jehovah's  immediate  work.  Farther  that  the  goal  of  this 
mission  is  the  highest  possible,  to  give  the  heathen  a  share 
in  the  divine  mercy,  this,  not  Jehovah's  glory,  and  not  the 
glory  of  the  Jewish  community,  is  the  goal.  Finally,  that 
he  may  bring  to  them  Jehovah's  institutions  and  com- 
mands; but  with  this  he  brings  the  very  soul  and  body 
of  religion.  The  least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is 
greater  than  he,  but  yet  in  his  time  many  people  and  kings 
were  to  be  astonished  at  what  they  saw  and  heard." — 
M.  Lohr. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

THE  PROPHETIC  MISSIONARY  IDEA 

(Isaiah  ii.  1-4,  xlii.  1-4,  lvii.  7-8  ) 
The  nineteenth  century  has  been  called,  in  a  spe- 
cial and  appropriate  sense,  the  missionary  era  of 
the  Christian  Church.  There  was  quick  advance 
of  science,  rapid  change  of  political  and  social  situ- 
ation, clash  of  apparently  hostile  interests,  and  keen 
discussion  of  opposite  theories;  but  through  it  all 
there  was  the  growth  of  kindly  human  feeling  and 
direct  missionary  effort.  In  many  ways  the  last 
generation  was  taught  the  lesson  that  we  are  "mem- 
bers one  of  another."  There  is  much  work  of  this 
kind  still  to  be  done  in  every  sphere  of  life,  for  the 
upward  movement  is  very  slow ;  but  we  can  rejoice 
in  any  sign  that  men  are  beginning  to  recognize 
more  clearly  the  great  scriptural  truths  and  moral 
principles,  which  check  national  pride  and  soften 
fierce  race  prejudice.  Our  present  subject  leads  us 
to  emphasize  the  particular  expression  of  the  "en- 
thusiasm of  humanity"  which  is  found  in  the  mis- 
sionary enterprise  and  effort  of  the  Christian 
Church ;  we  are  not  called,  just  now,  to  a  discussion 
of  means  and  methods,  but  to  study  the  living  spirit, 
which  seeks  in  this  way  to  manifest  itself.  In  re- 
garding this  as  one  of  the  highest  gifts  of  God,  we 
253 


254    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

do  not  thereby  undervalue  true  patriotism,  but  only 
a  narrow  national  bigotry. 

When  we  ask  why  the  Christian  Church  is  bound 
to  go  outside  her  own  borders  and  carry  the  mes- 
sage of  mercy  into  the  great  world,  many  answers 
are  possible.  The  one  nearest  at  hand  is  that  in 
this  she  is  embodying  the  spirit  and  obeying  the 
command  of  her  Lord.  To  those  who  acknowledge 
the  authority  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  spirit  of  love 
and  loyalty,  this  is  full  and  sufficient  reason.  Others 
would  add  that  this  duty  rests  upon  a  moral  prin- 
ciple that  is  now  commonly  accepted,  namely,  that 
if  we  possess  the  highest  truth  it  is  our  duty  to 
spread  it ;  if  we  enjoy  a  nobler  revelation  of  God  we 
cannot  consistently  monopolize  it,  but  rather  we 
must  be  willing  to  share  it  with  those  whose  life  has 
not  such  abundance  of  light  and  blessing.  Our  study 
of  the  Old  Testament  suggests  another  way  of  treat- 
ing this  great  subject  which  may  tend  to  make  our 
knowledge  clearer  and  our  faith  stronger. 

THE  GROWTH   OF  A  GREAT  IDEA. 

When  our  Lord  said,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world 
and  make  disciples  of  all  nations,"  he  gave  new  em- 
phasis and  richer  meaning  to  a  truth  which  had  been 
partially  revealed,  and  brought  into  the  world  of 
reality  the  highest  aspiration  of  the  older  religion. 
His  word  was  not  an  absolutely  new  beginning;  the 
suggestive  phrase,  "fulness  of  times,"  has  an  appli- 
cation here,  as  elsewhere;  the  missionary  thought 
had  advanced  to  a  certain  stage,  had  received  a 
beautiful  if  imperfect  expression,  and  was  waiting 
for  its  complete  emancipation ;  the  real  work  of  "the 


PROPHETIC  MISSIONARY  IDEA      255 

law  and  the  prophets"  was  not  to  be  destroyed,  but 
fulfilled.  The  originality  of  Jesus  is  not  a  display  of 
superficial  novelties,  but  that  living  interpretation  of 
the  past  which  creates  rich  promise  for  the  future. 
Great  ideas  rule  the  world,  but  these  divine  inspira- 
tions do  not  reach  maturity  in  a  few  years ;  they 
grow  to  strength,  consistency,  clearness  and  beauty 
through  the  toil  of  men,  who  in  each  succeeding 
generation  are  serving  God  with  their  face  toward 
the  light.  The  Old  Testament  is  the  seed-plot  of 
great  religious  ideas,  of  ideals  which  show  their 
lofty  origin  by  their  power  to  grow,  and  their  affin- 
ity with  the  highest,  holiest  life  of  man.  A  little 
careful  examination  will  show  that  what  we  call 
"the  missionary  idea"  has  its  roots  in  the  sacred  lit- 
erature which  reflects  the  highest  life  of  the  Hebrew 
people. 

Judaism  is  generally  classed  as  a  non-missionary 
religion,  and  the  striking  contrast  is  emphasized  that 
out  of  the  most  intensely  national  religion  there 
sprung  a  religion  that  abolishes  all  distinctions  of 
"Jew  and  Gentile,  Greek  and  barbarian,  bond  and 
free."  But  our  best  classifications  are  apt  to  be 
superficial,  and  our  abrupt  contrasts  often  ignore  the 
living  thread  which  lies  behind.  We  must  remember 
that  Judaism  thus  defined  is  only  one  side  of  Hebrew 
religion,  fixed  in  a  hard  traditional  form.  The 
first  Christian  missionaries,  men  of  Jewish  race, 
claimed  to  have  received  a  nobler  interpretation  of 
their  own  past ;  they  were  not  revolutionists,  but,  like 
all  real  leaders  of  progress,  both  conservatives  and 
reformers.    Judaism  had  also  done  in  its  own  way 


256    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

real,  though  limited,  missionary  work.*  The  ap- 
peal to  the  prophets  in  justification  of  the  new 
movement  might  often  be  popular  rather  than 
scientific  in  its  form,  but  it  was  true  to  the  spirit 
of  prophecy.  There  is  nothing  strange  in  this ; 
a  truth  is  not  less  divine  because  it  has  been  given 
"in  sundry  times  and  divers  manners" ;  or,  in  other 
words,  because  its  path  has  been  like  that  of  the 
sun  shining  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day. 

To  trace  the  growth  of  this  great  idea  with  any- 
thing like  completeness  would  be  to  give  a  sketch 
of  the  progress  of  the  Hebrew  faith,  in  its  many 
stages,  under  the  influence  of  the  inspiring  Spirit. 
As  this  is  not  possible  in  a  brief  space,  we  must  be 
content  to  emphasize  the  highest  forms  that  it  as- 
sumes in  the  teaching  of  the  prophets,  and  show  how 
both  in  its  strength  and  limitation  this  is  a  looking 
forward  for  nobler  things  to  come.  In  its  earliest 
days  the  Hebrew  religion  was  inspired  by  a  lofty 
thought  of  God ;  Moses,  the  great  leader,  could  not 
have  done  his  work  without  the  consciousness  that 
God  had  called  him  to  a  noble  mission,  and  his  people 
to  a  great  destiny.  But  after  his  day  both  the  peo- 
ple and  the  religion  had  a  long  fight  for  existence. 
There  was  continual  conflict  without  and  within ; 
the  higher  religious  movement  had  always  a  fierce 
struggle  against  popular  superstitions.  In  those 
days  the  highest  life  was  clothed  in  simpler  forms. 
David,  who  cherished  a  noble  faith  in  the  God  of  his 
fathers,  felt  that  to  be  cut  off  for  a  time  from  the 
Israelite  community  was  to  be  driven  from  the  pres- 


*See  Chapter  XX. 


PROPHETIC  MISSIONARY  IDEA      257 

ence  of  Jehovah  his  God.  (I.  Sam.  xxvi.  19.  And 
down  to  the  end  there  remained  something  of  local 
limitation  even  in  the  faith  of  men  who  had  attained 
to  lofty  thoughts  of  God  and  large  conceptions  of 
religion.  But  in  the  broad  morality  of  Amos,  the 
spiritual  intuition  of  Hosea,  the  noble  theology  of 
Isaiah,  the  impartial  zeal  of  Micah,  there  is  the 
promise  of  all  that  was  presented  in  varied  forms  by 
later  prophets  and  teachers.  We  meet,  however, 
the  thought  of  the  election  of  righteousness  before 
that  of  the  call  to  world-wide  service.  The 
great  prophets  of  the  Assyrian  period  found  all  their 
energies  taxed  in  declaring  to  their  own  people  the 
righteousness  of  their  God,  and  contending  against 
impure  religion.  The  first  thought  with  regard  to 
the  outside  world  is  that  God  will  be  glorified 
among  the  nations  by  His  judgments,  the  judgments 
that  manifest  His  righteousness.  Jeremiah  gives  a 
hint  of  mercy  following  judgment  when  foreigners 
who  have  learned  the  ways  of  God's  people  shall  be 
gathered  in  and  share  the  inheritance  (Jer.  xii.  16). 
Remarkable  also  is  his  utterance,  "O  Jehovah,  my 
strength,  and  my  stronghold,  and  my  refuge  in  the 
day  of  affliction,  unto  thee  shall  the  nations  come 
from  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  shall  say,  Our 
fathers  have  inherited  nought  but  lies,  vanity  and 
things  wherein  there  is  no  profit."     (xvi.  19.) 

After  the  days  of  this  great  teacher  the  thought  of 
Israel's  world-wide  mission  and  religious  service  is 
manifested  in  a  rich  variety  of  forms ;  it  finds  mani- 
fold expression  in  prophecy  and  psalms.  The  most 
frequent  statement  is  that  foreign  nations  and 
distant  people  shall  come  to  Jerusalem  to  seek  truth 


258    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

and  worship  God ;  of  this  side  of  the  idea  the  follow- 
ing twice-repeated  passage  may  serve  as  a  noble 
type : 

"For  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  latter  days,  that 
the  mountain  of  Jehovah's  house  shall  be  established 
at  the  head  of  the  mountains,  and  shall  be  exalted 
above  the  hills,  and  all  nations  shall  flow  unto  it. 
And  many  peoples  shall  go  and  say : 

'Come  and  let  us  go  to  the  mountain  of  Jehovah, 

To  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob, 

That  He  may  teach  us  His  ways, 

And  we  will  walk  in  His  paths ; 

For  out  of  Zion  shall  go  forth  the  law, 

And  the  word  of  Jehovah  from  Jerusalem, 

And  he  shall  judge  between  the  nations, 

And  give  decision  to  many  peoples ; 

And  they  will  beat  their  swords  into  ploughshares 

And  their  spears  into  pruning  hooks ; 

Nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword  against  nation, 

Neither  shall  they  learn  war  any  more.'  " 

(Isaiah  ii.  2-4;  Micah  iv.  2-4.) 

In  this  lofty  ideal  it  is  not  suggested  that  the  true 
religion  will  leave  its  home  in  Jerusalem  and  go  out 
to  seek  and  save  that  which  is  lost ;  it  is  an  ideal 
Jerusalem,  possessing  an  attractive  religion,  that  is 
pictured  but  linked  to  the  local  habitation  that  was 
so  dear  to  every  pious,  patriotic  Jew.  Peace  there 
shall  be  in  the  future  days,  when  Jehovah's  sover- 
eignty is  recognized  and  religion  reigns  with  gentle 
guidance  and  sweet  constraint,  that  is  a  feature  al- 
ways present  in  these  sublime  pictures  of  the  great 
future.  In  those  days  of  wars  and  tumults  men 
longed  for  peace  as  the  greatest  gift  of  God.    The 


PROPHETIC  MISSIONARY  IDEA     259 

distinctive  thing  here  is  the  attractiveness  and  effec- 
tiveness of  pure  religion,  and  the  mighty  faith  that, 
in  days  to  come,  it  shall  attain  to  fuller  manifestation. 
Here  is  an  abiding  truth  which,  freed  from  local  limits, 
must  be  taken  up  into  the  life  of  the  Christian  Church. 
The  Church  must  be  a  centre  of  attraction,  a  source 
of  inspiration,  a  seat  of  instruction.  Men  must  be 
drawn  not  by  sensational  shows,  but  by  the  presence 
of  higher  truth  and  purer  life.  This  was  fulfilled  to 
a  certain  small  extent  even  in  later  Judaism;  many 
earnest  men  and  noble  women  from  many  nations, 
even  the  highest  and  proudest,  did  frankly  and  fear- 
lessly recognize  the  superiority  of  its  religious  mes- 
sage.* It  is  true  that  there  was  a  strong  tendency  to 
dwell  upon  the  external  splendour  of  Jerusalem,  and 
to  picture  the  Gentiles  as  paying  a  slavish  homage  to 
the  Jews;  but  in  the  real  prophetic  pictures  the  prom- 
inence is  given  to  the  glory  of  the  righteous  God  and 
the  winning  power  of  the  highest  spiritual  truth. 

Behold  my  servant,  whom  I  uphold ; 

My  chosen,  in  whom  my  soul  delighteth : 

I  have  put  my  spirit  upon  him ; 

He  shall  bring  forth  judgment  to  the  nations. 

He  shall  not  cry,  nor  lift  up, 

Nor  cause  his  voice  to  be  heard  in  the  street. 

A  bruised  reed  shall  he  not  break, 

And  the  dimly  burning  wick  he  shall  not  quench : 

He  shall  bring  forth  judgment  in  truth. 

He  shall  not  burn  dimly,  nor  be  bruised 

Till  he  have  set  judgment  in  the  earth; 

And  the  isles  shall  wait  for  his  law. 

(Isaiah  xlii.  1-4.) 

*See  Chapter  XXII.  page  265. 


260    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

Here  the  missionary  hope  reaches  its  highest 
expression  in  the  picture  of  a  servant  of  Jehovah, 
who,  with  gentle  persistence  and  unostentatious 
zeal,  shall  carry  to  the  nations  the  precious  gifts  of 
revelation  which  have  been  coming  to  clearness  and 
power  through  all  the  toil  and  travail  of  the  past. 
It  would  be  well  for  the  teacher  of  to-day  to  linger 
lovingly  over  this  picture  of  a  divinely  elected  and 
supremely  gifted  minister.  From  it  he  may  learn 
to  combine  reverence  for  past  revelations  with  quick- 
ness to  hear  the  present  voice  of  God,  stern  faithful- 
ness to  God  and  truth,  with  keen  knowledge  of  life 
and  kindly  sympathy  for  men.  But  the  fact  that 
concerns  us  now  is  that  whether  this  is  a  personifi- 
cation of  Israel  or  the  picture  of  the  individual  ideal 
Servant,  we  have  the  true  religion  beating  against 
the  narrow  local  barriers  and  leaping  forward  to  a 
large  universal  life.  Judaism  could  never  completely 
fulfil  such  a  picture;  it  can  only  be  realized  by  the 
pure  spiritual  religion  of  Jesus.  In  its  earliest  days 
Christianity  went  forth  to  free  religion  and  man 
from  narrow  prejudices  and  petty  limitations ;  great 
things  have  been  done  along  this  line,  but  an  im- 
mense task  still  lies  before  the  Church,  demanding 
both  intelligence  and  love. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  "missionary  idea"  which  is 
now  an  accepted  part  of  the  evangelical  programme 
rests  not  alone  upon  the  law  of  common  obligation, 
nor  even  altogether  upon  the  gracious  word  of 
Jesus.  It  has  a  great  history;  it  has  been  woven 
like  a  golden  thread  into  the  very  fibre  of  the  world's 
highest  thought  and  noblest  life ;  God,  who  took 
care  of  it  in  darker  days,  and  who  in  the  fulness  of 


PROPHETIC  MISSIONARY  IDEA     261 

time  gave  it  the  richest  manifestation  in  the  life  of 
His  Son,  will  guide  it  to  victory,  and  even  out  of 
imperfect  effort  will  bring  a  fuller  embodiment  of 
His  own  Kingdom,  so  that  the  true  Servant  shall 
"see  of  the  travail  of  His  soul  and  be  satisfied." 


THE  PROPHETIC  IDEA  OF  SUFFERING 
THE  GREAT  PASSION  PSALM 


"To  us  it  is  still  wonderful  that  an  Old  Testament 
saint,  poet,  seer  sketches  a  picture  which  is  realized  cen- 
turies after,  even  if  it  remains  in  many  and  not  unessen- 
tial features  behind  this  realization.  In  this  is  shown  the 
inner  relationship  of  the  Old  Testament  religion  with 
Christianity,  certainly  also  its  inferiority,  in  so  far  as  it 
could  think  but  not  realize  the  highest  thoughts." — B. 
Duhm. 

"Prophecy  is  like  the  rosy  dawn,  which  ushers  in  the 
day.  The  prophetic  word  is  'a  light  that  shineth  in  a  dark 
place,  until  the  day  dawn  and  the  day-star  arise  in  your 
hearts.'  (2  Peter,  1:19.)  Prophecy  is  as  trustworthy  as 
the  dawn  certainly  kisses  the  hem  of  the  sun's  robe.  More- 
over, were  there  no  dawn  there  would  be  no  day,  and  the 
soft  glow  of  the  morning  red  prepares  the  eye  for  the 
brighter  light,  and  cheers  the  heart  that  yearns  for  the  day. 
But  the  rosy  line  of  morning  is  not  the  blazing  day-star 
itself.  Aurora  falls  when  the  monarch  sun  assumes  his 
radiant  sway." — E.  Koenig,  D.  D.,  "The  Exile's  Book  of 
Consolation,"  translated  by  the  Rev.  J.  A.  Selbie,  M.  A. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THE  PROPHETIC  IDEA  OF  SUFFERING 
THE  GREAT  PASSION  PSALM 

(ISAIAH   LII.    13 — LIII.    12.) 

Ill  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  we  read,  that  the 
Evangelist  Philip  met  a  foreigner  who  had  been  "to 
Jerusalem  for  to  worship,"  who  also  "was  returning 
and  sitting  in  his  chariot  and  was  reading  the 
prophet  Isaiah."  This  man  was  unconsciously  ful- 
filling a  part  of  the  great  prophetic  message,  namely 
this,  that  Israel's  religion  should  go  outside  its  own 
narrow  circle  and  become  a  blessing  to  many  needy 
souls.  But  note  more  particularly  "the  place  of  the 
Scripture  which  he  was  reading" : 

"He  was  led  as  a  sheep  to  the  slaughter ; 
And  as  a  lamb  before  his  shearer  is  dumb, 
So  he  openeth  not  his  mouth : 
In  his  humiliation  his  judgment  was  taken  away : 
His  generation  who  shall  declare? 
For  his  life  is  taken  away  from  the  earth." 

This  man  evidently  had  an  instinct  for  high  themes 
and  central  positions,  or  he  was  caught  at  a  happy 
moment.  Mark  his  genuine  modesty,  when  he  is 
politely  asked  the  pertinent  question,  "Understand- 
est  thou  what  thou  readest?"  he  replies,  "How  can 
I,  except  some  one  shall  guide  me?"  But  his  in- 
265 


266    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

telligence  is  equal  to  his  humility;  in  one  clear, 
searching  question  he  fastens  upon  the  main  point 
of  interest,  and  of  difficulty,  "Of  whom  speaketh  the 
prophet  this?  of  himself  or  of  some  other  man?" 
For  the  Evangelist  this  was  a  favorable  position 
from  which  to  preach  Jesus  with  fervour  and  enthu- 
siasm to  this  thoughtful  man.  Christian  exposit- 
ors agree  with  Philip  that  in  our  Lord  Jesus  the 
prophecy  finds  its  real  meaning,  and  highest  glory. 
We  agree  also  with  the  questioner  that  the  passage 
is  a  difficult  one,  when  we  seek  to  discover  what  was 
really  in  the  mind  of  the  writer.  A  glance  at  the 
Revised  Version  will  reveal  to  the  ordinary  reader 
the  fact  that  the  work  of  translation  and  explana- 
tion in  this  case  is  not  easy.  As  to  the  application  of 
the  passage  the  Ethiopian  shows  the  impression 
that  is  made  upon  the  mind  of  the  average  reader, 
namely,  that  the  prophet  is  thinking  of  an  individual, 
himself,  or  some  other  person.  That  is  not  only 
the  popular  and  traditional  view,  it  is  also  held  by 
several  modern  scholars  who  have  made  the  subject 
a  matter  of  special  study.  Even  the  suggestion  of 
this  reader  that  the  prophet  speaks  of  himself  is 
not  to  be  rudely  thrust  aside.  There  is  deep  truth 
in  it:  if  the  prophet  did  not  speak  of  himself  he 
spoke  out  of  himself,  for  God  does  not  send  to  us 
such  a  message  except  through  a  man  who  in  his 
own  life  has,  in  some  measure,  learned  the  sacred 
meaning  of  sorrow;  and  the  picture  of  the  suf- 
fering Servant  is  also  the  picture  of  one  who 
shall  possess  more  fully,  and  express  more  clearly 
the  prophetic  spirit.  Prophet  and  prophecy  have, 
by  God's  grace,  a  deep  spiritual  relationship. 


PROPHETIC  IDEA  OF  SUFFERING  267 

When  we  pass  from  the  position  of  the  Evan- 
gelist to  that  of  the  Old  Testament  student  we  find 
ourselves  face  to  face  with  a  problem  which  because 
of  its  interest  and  difficulty  has  attracted  the  atten- 
tion and  stimulated  the  toil  of  the  foremost  scholars 
and  keenest  critics.  Who  is  the  author  of  this  pas- 
sage? Is  it  correct  to  call  this  and  the  related  pas- 
sages "poems"  or  "lyrics"?  (xlii.  1-4,  xlix.  1-6, 
1.  4-9).  Can  these  passages  be  shown  to  have 
a  real  connection  with  their  present  context?  If 
not,  does  this  suggest  a  difference  of  author,  or  at 
least  of  time  and  mood  of  the  same  author,  or  is  it 
sufficient  to  say  there  is  quick  "dramatic"  change 
of  standpoint  ?  Is  it  likely  that  the  passage  now  be- 
fore us  is  composed  of  two  poems,  or  of  "a  theo- 
dicy psalm  worked  over  in  the  Messianic  sense, 
under  the  influence  of  the  sacrificial  idea?"  In 
what  sense  is  the  passage  "Messianic"  ?  These  and 
other  questions  are  still  much  debated,  there  is  no 
immediate  prospect  of  substantial  unanimity,  and 
indeed  the  lines  cross  each  other  in  a  curious  fash- 
ion. Now,  these  questions  are  important:  the  pro- 
cess of  investigation,  undertaken  in  a  reverent, 
thoughtful  spirit,  is  of  great  service.  We  may,  in  our 
efforts  to  explain  apparent  want  of  coherence,  be 
tempted  to  lay  too  much  weight  on  the  fact  that  the 
prophet  was  a  poet  and  not  a  mere  logician  or  sys- 
tematic theologian ;  there  is  logic  of  its  kind  in  a 
great  poem,  it  is  possible  to  have  consistency  of 
thought  without  formal  system,  and  the  really  great 
thinker,  be  he  poet  or  philosopher,  does  work  in 
harmony  with  his  own  central  truth.  Thus  we  hon- 
our the  prophet  in  seeking  to  understand  his  place 


268    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

in  history,  the  particular  message  confided  to  his 
care,  and  the  relation  of  this  to  the  larger  realm  in 
which  he  has  played  his  part.  Therefore  the  attempt 
to  analyze  a  piece  of  sacred  literature  into  its  orig- 
inal elements  may  be  both  reasonable  and  reverent. 
It  is,  however,  also  possible  to  place  these  ques- 
tions in  the  background  while  we  give  prominence 
to  some  one  aspect  of  truth.  The  thought  we  empha- 
size now  is  the  treatment  of  suffering  in  this  great 
passage.  In  the  limited  view  with  which  we  at  pres- 
ent regard  it  this  idea  remains  in  substance  the  same 
— for  example,  whether  the  prophet  meant  that 
through  Israel's  suffering  supreme  blessing  would 
come  to  mankind,  or  was  prompted  to  picture  an  ideal 
individual  sufferer  bearing  the  sins  and  sorrows  of  his 
fellowmen,  we  have  here  in  either  case  an  idea  of 
suffering  that  is  new,  lofty  and  fruitful.  Let  us  fix 
our  attention  for  a  brief  space  on  that  one  thought. 
It  may  be  said  that  this  is  not  the  whole  story  or 
the  main  element  in  it,  that  the  wonderful,  incredi- 
ble thing  is  that  one  who  went  down  to  such  deep 
humiliation  was  lifted  by  his  God  to  such  sublime 
heights  of  exaltation.  If  we  allow  that,  we  may 
still  maintain  that  the  expositor  has  a  perfect  right 
to  select  one  striking  feature  of  the  picture  for 
separate  meditation  providing  that  he  acts  fairly 
by  it,  and  is  true  to  the  spirit  of  the  whole.  With- 
out discussing  the  setting  of  the  passage,  and  all 
the  particular  problems  that  arise  out  of  it,  we  can 
dwell  upon  the  fact  that  the  idea  of  vicarious  suf- 
fering receives  here  a  clearness  and  nobleness  of 
expression  that  is  not  found  in  any  other  part  of  the 
Old  Testament. 


PROPHETIC  IDEA  OF  SUFFERING  269 

From  this  point  of  view  we  can  see  how  super- 
ficial is  the  statement  that  "Prosperity  is  the  blessing 
of  the  Old  Testament  and  Adversity  the  blessing 
of  the  New."  When  the  hope  of  a  future  life  did 
not  play  a  great  part  it  was  natural  that  the  justi- 
fication of  God's  people  should  be  looked  for  in  the 
actual  events  of  life,  and  of  the  nation  in  the  arena 
of  history;  but  those  who  represent  the  highest 
spirit  of  the  Old  Testament  are  precisely  those  who 
fought  against  the  common  creed  that  present 
success  is  the  real  test  of  God's  favour.  And  as  to 
the  spiritual  life  itself,  though  it  differed  so  much 
in  form,  it  was  in  essence  the  same,  to  this  extent, 
at  least,  that  then  as  now,  the  richest  experience 
came  through  painful  struggle,  and  the  deepest 
revelations  were  given  to  those  who  bore  the  cross. 
We  have  a  striking  example  of  this  in  the  seventy- 
third  psalm,  a  wonderful  story  of  strain  and  temp- 
tation, in  which  the  thoughtful,  saintly  writer  tells 
how  by  the  pressure  of  misfortune  he  was  led  to 
the  verge  of  scepticism,  and  almost  lost  faith  in  the 
meaning  of  life,  and  the  moral  order  of  the  world. 
He  pictures  for  us  his  dismay  when  he  realized  how 
the  proclamation  of  his  despair  would  bring  distress 
to  the  hearts  of  those  who  were  really  seeking  to 
live  as  sons  of  God,  in  the  midst  of  a  crooked  and 
perverse  generation.  He  tells  how  he  was  led  to 
reconsider  the  question  in  the  light  of  the  sanctuary, 
to  confess  his  stupidity  and  to  find  in  God  the  su- 
preme and  satisfying  blessing.  In  the  book  of  Job 
the  problem  of  suffering  is  handled  in  a  still  bolder 
fashion,  with  larger  and  more  varied  treatment. 
It  is  possible  to  draw  out  and  tabulate  several  "so- 


270    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

lutions"  from  that  wonderful  book;  these  are  wor- 
thy of  careful  consideration,  but  a  serious  study  of 
the  daring  speeches  that  the  poet  has  placed  in  the 
mouth  of  Job  forces  us  to  the  conclusion  that  his 
supreme  concern  was  for  the  freedom  of  the  human 
spirit,  the  liberty  of  the  awakened  soul  to  face  the 
real  facts  of  life,  and  to  pour  out  its  complaint  be- 
fore God  unfettered  by  hard  conventional  dogmas. 
There  is  a  volcanic  energy,  a  majestic  passion  in 
the  stormy  utterance  of  the  "patient"  Job  that  is 
very  significant.  Here,  however,  we  have  a  dis- 
tinctly different  note : 

"He  was  despised  and  forsaken  of  men ; 
A  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  sickness : 
And  as  one  from  whom  men  hide  their  face 
He  was  despised  and  we  esteemed  him  not. 
Surely  he  hath  borne  our  sicknesses, 
And  our  sorrows  he  carried: 
Yet  we  did  esteem  him  stricken, 
Smitten  of  God  and  afflicted. 
But  he  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions, 
He  was  Bruised  for  our  iniquities : 
The  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  him, 
And  with  his  stripes  we  are  healed." 

In  addition  to  its  prophetic  character,  in  the 
stricter  sense,  the  teaching  contained  in  these  words 
opposes  the  narrow,  cruel  view  of  suffering  with 
even  mightier  power  than  the  passionate  protest  of 
Job.  In  this  chapter  there  are  two  aspects  of  the 
silent  sufferer's  experience;  the  picture  of  one 
marred  by  loathsome  disease,  which,  being  regarded 
as  the  mark  of  heaven's  vengeance,  causes  the  af- 


PROPHETIC  IDEA  OF  SUFFERING  271 

flicted  one  to  be  cast  out  from  the  society  of  men ; 
and  the  description  of  the  same  sufferer  as  the  vic- 
tim of  bitter  persecution  and  judicial  murder.  For 
our  present  purpose  the  first  scene  as  represented  in 
these  lines  is  sufficient.  It  is  the  new  noble  thought 
of  suffering,  its  meaning  and  purpose  with  which 
we  are  here  concerned.  In  Old  Testament  times 
there  was  a  strong  tendency  to  look  upon  sorrow, 
especially  in  sudden,  mysterious  and  terrible  forms, 
as  a  direct  stroke  of  God,  a  sign  of  the  fierce  anger 
of  the  Almighty.  That  was  a  very  ancient  thought, 
and  in  a  certain  crude  form  it  embodied  the  idea  of 
a  moral  government  of  the  world.  The  truth  that 
there  is  in  it  we  must  still  preserve,  and  bring  it  into 
harmony  with  other  truths  that  have  been  revealed. 
A  simple  statement  of  life  such  as  we  find,  for  ex- 
ample, in  the  first  Psalm  sets  forth  nobly  one  side 
of  the  truth  concerning  the  moral  government  of 
the  world,  but  when  it  is  treated  as  the  whole  and 
hardened  into  a  cold  complete  formula  it  may  be 
very  cruel.  It  was  quite  common  in  those  days 
both  for  conventional  theology  and  popular  super- 
stition to  argue  back  from  extreme  suffering  to 
enormous  sin.  We  have  got  rid  of  that  horrible 
nightmare,  we  know  that  some  of  the  noblest  saints 
have  been  great  sufferers ;  we  know  that  whom  the 
Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth.  Many  other  great  things 
we  know,  but  in  our  vulgar  moments  we  still  wor- 
ship what  the  world  calls  success.  But  familiar  as 
we  are  with  these  words  it  is  difficult  for  us  to  real- 
ize what  a  spiritual  revolution  there  was  hidden 
in  the  prophet's  statement;  here  is  a  lonely,  silent 
sufferer ;  in  our  blindness  and  unbelief  we  treat  him 


2J2    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

as  one  bowed  down  under  the  curse  of  God,  when 
the  truth  is  that  he  willingly  stoops  under  the  bur- 
den of  our  sin  and  shame.  Suffering  may  be  self- 
sacrifice,  the  anguish  and  torture  may  be  patiently 
accepted  as  from  the  hand  of  God  and  out  of  it 
may  flow  streams  of  healing  mercy  for  those  who 
are  blind,  wilful  and  rebellious.  It  was  a  great  in- 
spiration that  led  the  prophet  to  look  thus  into  the 
heart  of  life's  mystery,  and  out  of  his  deep  vision  to 
draw  this  pathetic  picture  of  "the  man  of  sorrow 
and  acquainted  with  grief."  When  we  speak  of  the 
newness  of  this  teaching  we  do  not  mean  to  say 
that  in  the  early  days  men  did  not  realize  in  their 
own  simple  way  that  "we  are  members  one  of  an- 
other." In  very  real  ways  the  innocent  suffered 
with  or  for  the  guilty;  each  member  of  the  family 
or  clan  shared  more  fully  the  fate  of  the  whole  than 
is  the  case  now.  But  that  was  on  a  low  natural 
plane  and  was  carried  out  in  ways  that  were  me- 
chanical and  superstitious  though  often  tragic 
enough.  Here  we  are  on  a  higher  plane;  we  have 
entered  the  sacred  region  of  reverent  submission  of 
spiritual  sympathy,  of  willing  self-sacrifice.  That 
the  suffering  of  an  innocent  member  of  the  human 
family  can  have  redemptive  force  for  mankind  is 
a  wonderful  suggestion.  This  is  not  a  theory  or  a 
theology;  it  is  a  prophecy  which  means  that  it  is 
not  a  completed  formula,  a  fully  revealed  truth, 
it  is  prophetic  by  virtue  of  its  incompleteness  as 
well  as  by  its  relative  perfection.  Judaism  did  not 
and  could  not  realize  this  or  there  would  have  been 
no  need  for  Jesus  and  Calvary.  The  Christian  re- 
ligion, in  the  person  of  its  great  Teacher,  interprets 


PROPHETIC  IDEA  OF  SUFFERING  273 

the  loftiest  anticipations  of  the  ancient  saints  and 
embodies  them  in  living  forms  of  willing  sacrifice 
and  loyal  service.  When  in  the  light  of  the  Cross 
men  learn  the  real  meaning  and  power  of  suffering 
the  bitterness  and  curse  passes  away  and  those  who 
know  the  redeeming  power  of  love  can  count  it  an 
honour  to  suffer  in  the  cause  of  God  and  humanity. 


THE  PROPHET  AS  A  CHURCH-BUILDER 


"We  have  a  few  fragments  of  the  utterances  of  Haggai 
preserved  for  us  in  the  Old  Testament  Canon.  They  are 
so  brief  and  bald  and  abrupt  as  to  suggest  the  opinion 
that  they  are  but  notes  of  his  discourses,  mere  outlines  of 
what  he  really  said.  As  they  are  preserved  for  us  they 
certainly  convey  no  idea  of  wealth  of  poetic  imagination 
or  richness  of  oratorical  coloring.  But  Haggai  may  have 
possessed  none  of  these  qualities,  and  yet  his  words  may 
have  had  a  peculiar  force  of  their  own.  He  is  a  reflec- 
tive man.  The  long  meditation  of  years  has  taught  him  the 
value  of  thoughtfulness.  The  burden  of  his  message  is 
'Consider  your  ways.'  In  short,  incisive  utterances  he 
arrests  attention  and  urges  consideration.  But  the  out- 
come of  all  he  has  to  say  is  to  cheer  the  drooping  spirits 
of  his  fellow-citizens,  and  urge  on  the  rebuilding  of  the 
temple  with  confident  promises  of  its  great  future.  For 
the  most  part  his  inspiration  is  simple,  but  it  is  searching, 
and  we  perceive  the  triumphant  hopefulness  of  the  true 
prophet  in  the  promise  that  the  latter  glory  of  the  house 
of  God  shall  be  greater  than  the  former." — Prof.  W.  F. 
Adeney,  M.  A.,  "Expositor's  Bible."  Ezra,  Nehemiah  and 
Esther. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE  PROPHET  AS  A  CHURCH-BUILDER 

(Haggai  i;  Ezra  iii.  11-13.) 
It  is  an  oft-repeated  saying  that  the  nation  is 
happy  that  has  no  history;  if  "happiness"  is  taken 
in  the  superficial  sense  of  mere  material  comfort, 
then  this  saying  is  quite  true.  God's  gift  to  a  great 
nation  is  not  a  stagnant,  unruffled  prosperity,  but  a 
series  of  heroic  struggles,  and  for  reward  a  mighty, 
wide-spreading  influence.  No  one  who  knows  their 
history  would  venture  to  call  the  Israelites  a  happy 
people  in  the  shallow  sense  of  the  word.  A  Jew 
looking  back  upon  the  history  of  his  nation  is 
tempted  to  regard  it  simply  as  a  long  series  of 
wretched  failures  and  bitter  disappointments ;  and  it 
is  certainly  true  that  it  is  difficult  to  find  in  the  his- 
tory of  any  people  more  violent  contrasts,  brighter 
hopes  and  darker  disappointments.  But  the  pro- 
phetic view  which  expresses  the  highest  attainment 
of  a  living  faith  is  that  the  nation  is  the  Servant  of 
Jehovah,  and  that  these  very  trials  are  a  discipline 
for  loftiest  service.*  This  is  one  form  of  life's  final 
mystery,  that  the  noblest  things  come  through  the 
cross,  the  sweetest  songs  are  born  in  sharpest  sor- 


*See  Chapter  XX. 

277 


278    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

row,  the  highest  knowledge  comes  through  hardest 
toil  and  bitterest  experience. 

In  the  Old  Testament  records  we  can  see  clearly 
the  close  connection,  in  the  case  of  this  people,  of  re- 
ligion with  history;  the  first  Exodus  is  the  birth- 
hour  of  the  nation  and  the  beginning  of  religious 
organization.  The  people  came  into  Palestine  under 
the  influence  of  a  great  religious  impulse,  and  al- 
though their  stock  of  theology  might  be  small  and 
their  ecclesiastical  equipment  simple,  the  fact  that 
Jehovah  was  regarded  as  creator  and  guide  of  Lhe 
nation's  life  was  a  strong  protection  against  a  low 
nature  worship,  and  the  source  and  stimulus  of  a 
living,  progressive  movement.  Prophecy  interpreted 
history  and  history  modified  prophecy.  From  this 
point  of  view  ''the  Second  Exodus,"  the  Return 
from  Babylon,  was  of  immense  importance.  In  the 
earlier  days,  two  centuries  before  our  present  period, 
prophetic  preaching  lays  emphasis  on  judgment,  it 
fights  against  popular  superstition,  and  rebukes  the 
sins  of  reckless  rulers  and  greedy  oppressors.  After 
the  great  catastrophe  of  the  sixth  century  b.  c.  it 
takes  on  the  tender  tone  of  consolation,  it  gives  mag- 
nificent promises  and  seeks  to  inspire  new  endeavours. 
Before  the  Exile  the  prophets  are  severe  critics  of 
the  Church,  they  denounce  the  ritual  that  is  divorced 
from  real  religion,  and  pour  contempt  upon  a  wor- 
ship which  they  regard  as  a  delusive  form  of  selfish- 
ness. After  the  Exile  the  prophets  work  with  the 
priests,  and  use  their  powers  of  speech  to  persuade 
the  people  that  it  is  a  duty  and  a  privilege  to  build 
the  temple  and  support  the  Church  (Ezra  v.  1-3). 
This  change  is  highly  significant  and  is  worthy  of 


PROPHET  AS  CHURCH-BUILDER    279 

careful  consideration.  When  the  Northern  Israel- 
ites were  deported  and  scattered  about  one  hundred 
and  thirty  years  before  this  Babylonian  Exile  the 
result  was  to  destroy  entirely  the  national  existence 
and  separate  character  of  those  particular  tribes, 
and  to  bring  into  Palestine  a  mongrel  population 
and  mixed  religion  (John  iv.).  Hence  the  Jews 
on  their  return  instead  of  finding  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood  of  Jerusalem  support  in  their  relig- 
ious struggles  had  to  contend  with  lasting  enmity 
and  bitter  rivalry ;  in  that  sense  the  northern  people 
were,  as  a  community,  "lost"  to  the  common  cause.* 
The  experience  of  Judah  in  its  hour  of  doom 
was  different,  it  was  the  flower  of  the  small 
nation  that  was  transported  across  the  desert  to  the 
city  and  district  of  Babylon.  There  a  community 
was  formed,  which  sent  out  its  branches  in  various 
directions,  and  those  who  came  back  to  Palestine 
returned  for  the  very  purpose  of  fighting  for  the 
preservation  and  purity  of  their  religion.  This  was 
a  tragic  national  experience,  and  while  it  did  not 
involve  extinction,  it  meant  in  many  things  a  great 
break  from  the  past  and  left  a  lasting  mark  on  the 
life  and  character  of  the  Jewish  people.  The  He- 
brew word  "to  remember"  meant  originally  "to 
pierce,"  and  certainly  this  was  a  memorable  exper- 
ience in  the  sense  that  it  reached  the  heart  and  left 
a  mark  that  is  still  very  far  from  being  effaced.* 

When  Judah  was  conquered  and  Jerusalem  de- 
stroyed it  seemed  as  if  all  was  lost,  and  as  a  matter 
of  fact  many  Jews  did  lose  heart  and  hope.    Jere- 


*See  Chapter  III.    fSee  Chapter  XX. 


280    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

miah,  who  declared  with  startling  boldness  and  un- 
flinching persistency  the  inevitableness  of  the  judg- 
ment, also  possessed  the  strongest  faith  that  the  re- 
ligious life  would  survive  the  destruction  of  the  po- 
litical organization.  From  his  lofty  standpoint  the 
nation  died  in  hope  of  a  glorious  resurrection ;  the 
resurrection  was  real,  though  the  glory  was  delayed. 
Those  who  looked  eagerly  forward  to  the  Return 
from  Babylon  were  inspired  to  paint  the  glories  of 
the  new  movement  in  glowing  colours,  which  now 
shine  out  in  strong  contrast  to  the  hard,  dull  reality. 
But  with  this  and  many  other  examples  still  before 
us  we  still  thank  God  for  poets,  idealists  and  enthus- 
iasts, who  make  the  desert  of  hard  fact  to  "rejoice 
and  blossom  as  the  rose,"  and  throw  a  halo  of  glory 
around  "the  day  of  small  things."  This  small  move- 
ment is  a  real  link  in  the  golden  chain  of  God's  prov- 
idence and  turns  out  to  be  a  thing  of  larger,  more 
lasting  significance  than  even  the  richest  poetry  had 
suggested.  All  the  poetry  is  justified  when  we  take 
a  long  view.  "The  ransomed  of  Jehovah  shall  re- 
turn and  come  to  Zion,  with  songs  and  everlasting 
joy  upon  their  heads  :  they  shall  obtain  joy  and  glad- 
ness and  sorrow  and  sighing  shall  flee  away."  This 
is  noble  language,  fit  indeed  for  a  description  of 
heaven;  but  when  the  Sons  of  the  Captivity  re- 
turned to  Zion  what  they  found  was  not  heaven, 
but  a  very  mean,  miserable  bit  of  earth,  a  city  in 
ruins,  and  its  very  limited  territory  surrounded  by 
envious  and  troublesome  neighbours.  Certainly  they 
needed  tender  comfort  as  well  as  bracing  exhorta- 
tion from  their  preachers.    It  has  been  said  that  a 


PROPHET  AS  CHURCH-BUILDER    281 

nation  was  destroyed  by  the  Babylonian  conquest 
and  "a  sect"  came  back  to  Jerusalem.  This  form  of 
expression,  while  seeking  to  stigmatize  the  narrow- 
ness of  Judaism,  is  itself  needlessly  harsh  and  nar- 
row. If  we  are  impartial,  we  can  see  that  at  this  stage 
a  certain  amount  of  exclusiveness  was  absolutely 
necessary;  it  was  only  by  fierce  struggle  and  stern 
resistance  that  men  preserved  the  rich  results  of  all 
these  years  of  toil  and  discipline.  In  later  times, 
when  the  noblest  work  had  been  accomplished,  this 
narrowness  often  degenerated  into  intolerant  big- 
otry. But  the  men  who  in  this  great  crisis  pre- 
served for  us  the  fruit  of  such  real  inspiration  and 
varied  activity  were  not  altogether  lacking  in  cath- 
olicity of  spirit. 

THE  PROPHET  AS  CHURCH-BUILDER. 

When  we  see  that  there  were  strong  reasons  why 
the  temple,  now  the  one  sanctuary,  should  be  rebuilt, 
that  it  was  indeed  a  matter  of  life  and  death  for  the 
Jewish  religion,  we  can  understand  that  it  was  no 
degradation  of  the  prophetic  office  for  its  ministry  to 
be  concerned  with  the  building  of  a  church  and  the 
strengthening  of  its  organization.  The  gathered 
literature,  the  final  creed,  the  elaborate  organization, 
these  we  are  told  tend  to  destroy  the  prophetic  spirit. 
But  this  is  not  an  absolutely  necessary  consequence. 
The  highest  prophet  when  he  comes  can  say  with- 
out loss  of  originality,  "It  is  written,"  and  can  pay 
due  honour  to  the  Church  while  rebuking  its  rulers. 
When  we  see  the  important  place  taken  by  the  sec- 
ond Temple  in  the  history  of  Judaism,  and  in  the  life 
of  the  world,  we  can  understand  that  the  prophets 


282    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

of  this  period  are  doing  a  noble  work,  even  if  the) 
do  not  possess  the  personal  greatness  or  wield  the 
tremendous  influence  of  some  of  their  predecessors. 
What  use  was  there  in  these  pious  people  strug- 
gling across  the  desert  to  their  old  home,  with  such 
heroic  faith  and  in  the  face  of  such  tremendous  diffi- 
culties? (Ezra  vii.  21.)  The  answer  to  that  question 
will  give  the  real  basis  of  this  ministry  of  the  post- 
exilic  prophets.  There  were  no  doubt  "advanced 
men"  in  Babylon,  and  one  can  now  have  great  sym- 
pathy with  their  views.  They  had  learned  that  their 
religion  could  survive  after  great  shocks,  and  in  a 
strange  land ;  they  had  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  great 
truth  that  the  acceptable  sacrifice  is  the  broken  heart 
and  contrite  spirit,  and  it  was  possible  for  some  of 
them,  without  losing  their  faith,  to  doubt  whether 
it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  build  again  the  walls 
of  Jerusalem.  (Psalm  li.)  But  if  we  follow  the 
"advanced  men"  altogether  we  may  find  ourselves 
in  the  air  without  a  body;  or  we  may  forget 
the  needs  of  the  average  man  in  our  hasty 
pursuit  of  the  ideal.  The  time  will  come  when 
the  religion  can  be  freed  from  its  local  habita- 
tion, with  advantage  to  itself  and  in  the  interest  of 
mankind,  but  that  time  had  not  arrived.  There  were 
also  wealthy  Jews,  men  who,  having  followed  the 
wise  advice  of  Jeremiah,  had  settled  and  prospered 
in  Babylon ;  many  of  these  very  naturally  did  not 
wish  to  be  disturbed ;  they  give  their  sympathy  and 
a  subscription.  Subscriptions  were  in  this,  as  in 
many  other  cases,  of  great  service,  but  the  men  who 
have  saved  great  causes  have  also  given  their  souls. 
(Zech.  vi.  10.) 


PROPHET  AS  CHURCH-BUILDER    283 

The  men  who  led  the  Return,  as  well  as  those 
who  came  later  to  support  the  cause,  felt  that  this 
business  was  of  infinite  importance  to  themselves; 
they  must  put  patriotism  and  piety  before  all  personal 
considerations  (Neh:  1)  And  indeed  it  is  im- 
portant that  men  should  be  true  to  the  best  tradi- 
tions of  their  race,  and  seek  to  preserve  the  great 
heritage  given  by  God  to  their  fathers.  Conscience, 
not  convenience,  must  dictate  the  form  that  such 
service  must  take.  To  stifle  spiritual  enthusiasm 
and  conquer  deep  conviction  would  have  been  in  the 
case  of  these  men  to  sell  their  birthright  for  a  mess 
of  pottage ;  or  to  end  by  despising  themselves  and 
despairing  of  all  noble  effort. 

In  responding  to  the  call  of  duty  they  did  a  work 
of  great  importance  to  those  who  were  to  come 
after.  The  second  Temple  became  a  centre  towards 
which  the  Jews  scattered  throughout  the  world 
could  turn  in  reverence  and  hope,  the  symbol  of 
racial  and  religious  unity.  In  distant  lands,  and 
among  strange  people  the  pious  Jew  could  greet  the 
coming  festival  with  the  sweet  words,  "I  was  glad 
when  they  said  unto  me,  let  us  go  unto  the  house  of 
Jehovah."  Thus  the  worship  was  perpetuated,  and 
the  highest  religion  kept  its  place  until  the  Christ 
came  to  complete  its  revelation  and  to  enlarge  its 
mission.  That  being  so,  the  work  of  these  men  was 
important  for  us ;  we  who  are  so  distant  from  them 
in  time  and  so  different  in  circumstances  owe  to 
them  a  deep  debt  of  gratitude.  We  cannot  then 
despise  this  period  and  call  the  immediately  suc- 
ceeding generations  "four  hundred  years  of  si- 
lence."   It  had  its  own  significance  and  heroism,  its 


284    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

noble  struggles,  bright  visions,  and  inspiring  voices. 
The  effort  to  build  this  temple  and  maintain  this 
worship  involved  heavy  strain  and  great  sacrifices. 
Through  these  men  we  are  linked  to  the  distant 
past,  to  Moses  and  all  the  prophets ;  if  the  circum- 
stances were  hard  and  prosaic,  all  honour  to  the  men 
who  in  the  face  of  great  difficulties  preached  the 
word  of  hope. 

THE  TEMPLE  AND  LIFE. 

(Ezra  iii.  n-13.) 
Because  of  such  faithfulness  we  find  bright,  poetic 
flashes  in  a  chronicle  which  is  often  counted  dry 
and  commonplace.  It  was  a  festive  day  when  the 
foundation  of  the  temple  was  laid,  for  out  of  this 
small  beginning  great  things  were  expected.  It  re- 
quired strong  faith  to  sing  in  such  a  time,  "for  He 
is  good,  for  His  mercy  endureth  for  ever  toward 
Israel."  There  arose  a  great  shout  of  joy,  but  in 
mid-air  it  was  caught  by  the  sound  of  wailing, 
which  met  and  mingled  with  it;  the  funeral  dirge 
broke  in  upon  the  wedding  march.  At  a  distance 
you  could  scarcely  tell  whether  it  meant  the  cheers 
of  the  victors  or  the  groans  of  the  vanquished.  A 
symbol  this  of  human  life  with  its  diverse  sounds 
of  anguish  or  rapture  ever  rising  into  the  air.  To 
the  aged  there  is  an  undertone  of  sadness  echoing 
through  the  music  of  every  festal  day.  The  old 
men  did  not  go  with  deliberate  intention  of  marring 
the  brightness  of  the  occasion  with  their  untimely 
tears,  their  reason  for  weeping  was  the  only  valid 
reason,  they  could  not  help  it;  in  the  hour  of  joy 
sorrowful  memories  surged  over  their  souls,  and 


PROPHET  AS  CHURCH-BUILDER    285 

found  expression  in  tears.  This  is  the  true  conse- 
cration when  sorrow  and  joy  are  poured  forth  on 
the  foundation  of  the  temple,  for  in  the  Church  di- 
verse interests  and  feelings  should  be  harmonized. 
Two  different  views  of  life  are  natural  to  youth  and 
age,  the  life  of  one  is  largely  in  the  past,  to  the  other 
the  future  is  full  of  promise.  To  the  one  "the  good 
old  days"  are  very  real,  while  to  the  other  the 
golden  days  are  all  to  come.  In  the  house  of  God 
these  opposite  points  of  view  must  be  harmonized, 
the  Temple  must  shelter  old  and  young,  its  songs 
must  soothe  the  one  and  summon  the  other  to  bat- 
tle. God  has  done  great  things  for  our  fathers — 
that  truth  we  must  not  lose;  God  still  speaks,  and 
promises  large  things  to  us — that  faith  we  must  also 
cherish.  Religion  must  link  the  life  of  young  and 
old  in  pure  sweet  fellowship.  Because  the  Temple 
is  a  symbol  of  the  unseen  kingdom,  a  place  where 
"the  communion  of  saints"  may  be  realized  through 
a  pure  worship  of  God,  there  are  times  when  the 
prophet  may  appear  as  a  church-builder,  calling 
men  to  consecrate  material  gifts  to  high  spiritual 
purposes.  When  we  contrast  this  form  of  activ- 
ity with  the  fierce  criticism  of  sanctuary  and  ritual 
which  marked  the  ministry  of  Amos  and  Isaiah  we 
may  learn  that  the  prophet  is  a  man  who  delights 
to  give  emphasis  to  the  particular  aspect  of  truth 
that,  in  his  own  time,  is  in  great  danger  of  being 
neglected  and  despised. 


THE  PROPHET'S  PROMISE  OF  PEACE, 

OR, 

THE  CITY  WITHOUT  A  WALL 


"Then  I  proclaimed  a  fast  there,  at  the  River  Ahava, 
that  we  might  humble  ourselves  before  our  God,  to  seek 
of  him  a  straight  way  for  us,  and  for  our  little  ones,  and 
for  all  our  substance.  For  I  was  ashamed  to  ask  of  the 
king  a  band  of  soldiers  and  horsemen  to  help  us  against 
the  enemy  in  the  way ;  because  we  had  spoke  unto  the 
king,  saying,  The  hand  of  our  God  is  upon  all  them  that 
seek  him  for  good ;  but  his  power  and  wrath  is  against  all 
them  that  forsake  him.  So  we  fasted  and  besought  our 
God  for  this;  and  he  was  entreated  of  us." — Ezra  viii. 
21-23. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 
THE  PROPHET'S  PROMISE  OF  PEACE 

OR, 

THE  CITY  WITHOUT  A  WALL 

(Zech.  ii.  1-5.) 
Zechariah  was  also  a  church-builder;  he  spent 
his  strength  in  supporting  the  leaders  of  the  small 
Jewish  community,  and  in  quickening  the  hopes  of 
the  people,  when  their  circumstances  were  straitened 
and  their  outlook  dark.  It  is  a  ministry  of  conso- 
lation, a  prophecy  of  blessing  and  enlargement.  We 
may  regard  the  early  chapters  of  this  book  as  a 
sermon  on  such  a  text  as  this :  "Comfort  ye,  com- 
fort ye  my  people,  saith  your  God.  Speak  ye  com- 
fortably to  Jerusalem,  and  cry  unto  her  that  her 
warfare  is  accomplished,  that  her  iniquity  is  par- 
doned ;  that  she  hath  received  of  Jehovah's  hand 
double  for  all  her  sins"  (i.  13,  15).  After  the  in- 
troduction we  have  a  series  of  visions  which  serve 
as  illustrations  for  the  gracious  theme.  The 
prophet  begins  with  a  suggestive  thought  which 
brings  light  out  of  darkness,  and  solace  out  of 
distress.  The  nation  has  learned  from  history  the 
lesson  it  refused  to  receive  from  prophecy.  "The 
former  prophets"  have  passed  away,  it  is  possible 
now  to  look  back  and  see  that  they  were  rejected 


290    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

messengers,  and  to  see  also  that  the  course  of  events 
has  fully  vindicated  their  preaching.  What  the  peo- 
ple would  not  learn  from  intelligent,  earnest  teach- 
ing has  been  burned  into  their  souls  by  sharp  ex- 
perience. The  chastisement  was  severe,  but  God 
was  just  (i.  6).  The  nation  has  not  been  utterly 
consumed,  though  it  seemed  to  come  so  near  to  that 
sad  end;  the  adversary  can  be  reminded  that  it  is 
"a  brand  plucked  out  of  the  fire"  (Hi.  2).  Now 
its  life  must  be  built  up  again,  the  great  teaching 
from  the  past  must  be  woven  into  present  life  to 
make  possible  a  brighter  future.  The  preacher,  the 
idealist,  whom  men  denounce  as  a  dreamer  must 
infuse  new  poetry  into  the  dull  prosy  routine,  and 
cast  a  halo  of  glory  over  "the  day  of  small  things." 
This  he  seeks  to  accomplish  by  means  of  a  series 
of  visions,  which  tell  in  varied  forms  God's  loving 
zeal  for  His  own  people  and  His  vengeance  on 
wicked  oppressors,  His  renewed  acceptance  of 
Judah  and  His  choice  of  Jerusalem,  His  purpose  to 
cast  iniquity  out  of  the  land  and  His  promise  of 
peace  and  protection,  His  blessing  upon  the  rulers 
and  His  gift  of  grace  and  attraction  to  the  Jew. 
The  prophet  can  use  clear,  striking  speech  as  well  as 
strange  symbols.  Surely  this  is  a  fine  description 
of  peaceful  prosperity,  "There  shall  yet  old  men  and 
old  women  sit  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  every  man 
with  his  staff  in  his  hand  for  very  age.  And  the 
streets  of  the  city  shall  be  full  of  boys  and  girls 
playing  in  the  streets  thereof."  (viii.  4,  5.)  And 
he  makes  quite  clear  that  he  is  not  thinking 
of  mere  material  prosperity  as  he  writes  the  charter 
of  a  city  that  God    can  bless,  "Speak    ye    every 


PROPHET'S  PROMISE  OF  PEACE    291 

man  the  truth  with  his  neighbour;  execute  the 
judgment  of  truth  and  peace  in  your  gates :  and  let 
none  of  you  imagine  evil  in  your  hearts  against 
his  neighbour ;  and  love  no  false  oath ;  for  all  these 
are  things  that  I  hate,  saith  Jehovah."  (viii.  16,  17.) 
Why  then  should  he  use  visions  ?  The  only  reason- 
able answer  seems  to  be  that  these  were  in  his  day 
attractive  and  effective  means  for  imparting  instruc- 
tion and  inspiration.  Such  word-pictures  were,  no 
doubt,  attractive  and  helpful  to  thoughtful  men,  as 
they  conveyed  the  promises  in  a  poetic  form,  which 
suggests  more  than  is  expressly  stated.  But  the  il- 
lustration suited  to  one  age  and  people  may  to  others 
seem  childlike,  quaint,  or  almost  grotesque.  And  it 
is  open  to  any  one  to  say,  why  should  we  puzzle  our- 
selves with  the  riddles  of  an  ancient  preacher,  or  try 
to  read  the  meaning  of  pictures  that  are  out  of  date? 
Such  a  question  could,  however,  only  come  from  a 
shallow  mind,  and  the  discussion  that  it  raises  is 
not  confined  to  the  sacred  Scriptures.  It  touches  our 
relation  to  all  the  life  of  the  past;  how  is  it  that 
precisely  in  this  busy,  scientific  age  there  is  so  much 
reverent,  sympathetic  study  given  to  the  great 
things  of  the  past  ?  Because  we  realize  that  all  our 
life  is  one  and  God  has  been  guiding  us  through  all 
the  ages.  All  real  study  or  search  for  truth  is  a 
religious  movement ;  and  this  literary  investigation 
which  tries  to  get  behind  the  form  and  fashion  of 
an  age  to  the  eternal  truth  is  an  act  of  devotion. 
The  religious  man  seeks  to  get  out  of  the  small  circle 
of  self  into  the  thoughts  of  God  and  the  life  of 
humanity.  One  form  of  this  endeavour  worthy  of 
being  called  worship  is  the  sympathetic  communion 


292    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

with  an  artist,  poet,  or  preacher  to  whom  God  gave 
a  great  message,  even  though  it  requires  patient 
perseverance  to  clear  away  the  dust  of  centuries 
or  break  from  traditional  interpretation  and  stand 
face  to  face  with  the  original  thought.  This  de- 
mands attention  and  thoughtfulness,  but  it  brings 
a  richer  reward  than  any  small  sensational  pleasure- 
seeking. 

THE  MEANING  OF  THIS  VISION. 

There  are  different  kinds  of  visions,  those  that 
come  with  overpowering  force  and  carry  the  prophet 
for  the  time  being  out  of  himself,  leaving  a  lasting 
impression,  and  those  which  are  created  by  the 
calmer  movement  of  the  imagination,  and  serve  to 
present  in  parabolic  form  the  prophet's  faith  and 
teaching.*  Zechariah's  visions  seem  to  be  rather 
of  the  latter  kind,  they  remind  us  of  Bunyan's 
immortal  dream,  and  indeed  the  great  puritan 
preacher  may  have  received  here  the  suggestion 
of  "the  Interpreter."  One  must  not  try  to  make 
too  deep  this  distinction  between  the  form  in  which 
the  truth  comes  to  the  prophet  and  the  manner  in 
which  he  imparts  it  to  us,  but  if  not  unduly  pressed 
it  may  serve  a  useful  purpose.  Here  we  have  a 
prophecy  of  comfort  and  each  vision  presents  a 
particular  phase  of  the  consoling  message.  "Cry 
yet  again,  saying,  Thus  saith  Jehovah  of  hosts  :  My 
cities  shall  yet  overflow  with  prosperity,  and  Jehovah 
shall  comfort  Zion  and  shall  yet  choose  Jerusalem." 
(i.  17.)  This  is  the  commission,  and  very  much  was 
it  needed  in  those  dark  days  when  men  wept  as  they 

*See  Chapter  V. 


PROPHET'S  PROMISE  OF  PEACE    293 

recalled  the  ancient  glory  of  Jerusalem,  which 
seemed  to  have  passed  away  forever.  The  proud, 
tyrannical  nations  must  be  brought  low,  and  thus 
the  stage  cleared  for  the  growth  of  Jerusalem's  pros- 
perity and  influence.  (1  :i8-2i). 

This  would  appeal  most  powerfully  to  the  young 
men  such  as  those  who  shouted  for  joy  when  the 
foundation  of  the  temple  was  laid.  Hence  in  the 
vision  we  see  a  young  man  with  a  measuring  line 
who  wishes  to  measure  Jerusalem,  the  enlarged  and 
beautiful  Jerusalem,  to  see  what  is  its  length  and 
breadth.  There  are  in  every  community  men  of 
mathematical  mind  who  lay  great  stress  on  the 
statistics  of  a  subject.  If  they  hear  of  a  city  they 
wish  at  once  to  know  its  exact  size  and  population. 
That  is  good,  in  its  place,  it  checks  mere  dreaming 
and  limits  unbridled  imagination ;  but  there  are 
facts  to  which  figures  do  scant  justice  and  forces 
that  cannot  be  imprisoned  in  a  definite  formula. 
When  it  is  a  matter  of  God's  presence  our  small 
measurements  are  put  to  shame.  The  young  man, 
whether  his  tendency  is  towards  poetry  or  mathe- 
matics, has  generally  two  qualities :  the  capability  of 
great  faith  in  the  future,  and  the  craving  for  definite 
knowledge.  The  young  man  does  not  doubt  that 
Jerusalem  will  be  great  but  he  wishes  to  know  how 
great,  and  what  will  be  its  precise  form.  These  are 
qualities  to  be  cultivated  and  prized  ;  the  young  man 
who  thinks  that  all  great  things  are  in  the  past  is 
spiritually  dead,  fit  only  for  mere  mechanical  duties. 
The  young  man  who  is  slovenly  in  his  statements 
and  inaccurate  in  his  measurements  is  doomed  to 
failure,  and  it  may  even  be  to  disgrace.    All  good 


294    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

work  demands  clearness  and  accuracy,  and  the  lives 
of  men  are  involved  in  exact  measurements.  But 
this  training  in  definiteness  is  meant  to  fit  the 
young  man  to  find  his  own  way  through  trackless 
regions,  and  to  learn  that  there  is  a  divine  presence 
that  surpasses  all  limitations,  a  fire  that  burns  away 
all  barriers  as  it  brings  largeness  and  freedom  into 
the  life  of  man.  The  young  man  in  the  vision  is  told 
that  this  is  not  a  case  for  the  measuring  line,  Jerusa- 
lem shall  not  be  enclosed  by  a  wall  but  spread  out 
like  open  villages ;  her  glory  and  strength  will  be  the 
presence  of  God  within  and  around  her.  This  means 
that  Jerusalem  shall  have  prosperity  difficult  to 
measure  combined  with  peace  and  protection  of  the 
noblest  kind. 

THE  CITY  WITHOUT  A  WALL. 

This  is  a  bold  thought;  Zechariah  is  not  ranked 
with  the  greatest  of  Old  Testament  prophets,  but  he 
shows  here  the  boldness  of  the  inspired  man,  the 
man  whose  thought  breaks  through  local  limitations. 
(Rom.  x.  20.)  He  dares  to  proclaim  a  city  such  as 
no  man  had  ever  seen ;  in  ancient  da}  s  the  city  was 
essentially  a  citadel  and  sanctuary.  The  most  im- 
portant feature  of  the  city  was  the  wall  behind 
which  people  could  find  shelter  when  the  enemy 
swept  unchecked  over  the  open  country,  and  by 
means  of  which  powerful  armies  were  kept  at  bay. 
The  very  life  of  Jerusalem  depended  on  the  wall ;  the 
patriotic  Nehemiah  and  his  helpers  had  to  combine 
the  use  of  sword  and  trowel  in  order  to  complete 
the  fortifications.  The  Jews  at  this  time  had  many 
troublesome  neighbours,  and  to  ensure  a  peaceful 


PROPHET'S  PROMISE  OF  PEACE    295 

place  on  the  earth  it  must  be  enclosed  and  protected 
by  the  well-built  wall.  What  then  does  the  prophet 
mean  when  he  pictures  a  city  that  has  no  wall  but  is 
rather  like  a  number  of  villages  or  settlements 
spreading  round  a  common  centre?  He  will  cer- 
tainly be  reminded  that  life  is  not  worth  living 
without  the  city  wall.  There  are  different  kinds  of 
walls,  he  says,  and  the  city  will  have  a  wall  that  is 
real  to  faith  though  unseen  by  mortal  eye.  How 
pleasant  life  is  in  the  open  country,  under  the  vine 
and  fig-tree,  if  only  we  can  feel  secure!  That  joy 
God  will  give  to  the  city  when  he  takes  away  the 
wall,  for  He  Himself  will  be  a  wall  of  fire  round 
about.  The  prophet's  vision  is,  at  once,  an  expres- 
sion of  his  own  faith  in  coming  blessing,  and  an 
assertion  that  spiritual  forces  are  superior  to  earthly 
defences.  He  knows  that  men  have  had  to  build 
walls  to  protect  their  life  and  their  religion  but  he 
realizes  that  that  religion  is  ever  striving  to  get  be- 
yond all  human  barriers.  If  God  is  in  Jerusalem 
men  will  be  drawn  to  her,  and  no  earthly  wall  can 
circumscribe  her  throbbing  life. 

Was  this  prophecy  fulfilled  ?  If  taken  in  the  sense 
of  lasting  prosperity  for  the  actual  Jerusalem,  no ! 
If  taken  in  the  deeper  sense  proper  to  prophecy,  yes ! 
This  does  not  mean  a  fanciful  allegorizing  of  the 
vision  but  finding  the  principle  at  the  heart  of  it, 
and  then  enlarging  its  application.  A  few  genera- 
tions later  Judaism  manifested,  under  the  inspiration 
of  faith,  its  power  to  make  a  successful  fight,  and 
then  enjoyed  a  brief  space  of  political  power  and 

*See  Chapters  XX  and  XXI. 


296    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

worldly  prosperity.  But  when  the  end  came  the 
wall,  though  it  made  a  stubborn  resistance  possible, 
could  not  stop  the  progress  of  imperial  Rome  and 
the  city  was  apparently  forsaken  by  its  God.  There 
was  no  wall  of  fire  to  consume  the  fierce  soldiers 
who  executed  vengeance  upon  the  doomed  city. 
But  every  real  vision  of  truth  is  fulfilled  in  various 
ways;  the  prophet  is  able  to  speak  of  the  future 
because  he  sees  clearly  the  thing  that  really  is,  and 
is  not  blinded  by  bewildering  appearances.  Hence 
Zechariah  in  his  vision  of  the  city  without  a  wall  has 
at  the  same  time  prophesied  concerning  the  future  of 
God's  church,  and  laid  down  a  principle  that  admits 
of  many  applications. 

( i )  In  the  history  of  the  Jews  there  would  have 
been  less  shame  and  disappointment  if  they  had 
trusted  less  in  the  wall  and  more  in  God,  the  latter 
not  in  the  mechanical  sense  of  expecting  prodigies 
to  minister  to  their  pride  but  by  bringing  into  civic 
life  and  national  policy  the  reason  and  righteousness 
taught  by  the  prophets. 

(2)  Jerusalem  did  spread  out  her  scattered  settle- 
ment into  the  great  world,  the  synagogue  was 
planted  in  the  chief  cities  of  the  Roman  Empire;  and 
just  in  proportion  as  the  Jews  were  true  to  the 
higher  elements  of  their  faith  they  sent  forth  truths 
of  priceless  value  and  imperishable  influence. 

(3)  How  is  it  that  in  this  age  and  in  our  own 
land  we  can  allow  ancient  walls,  and  local  barriers 
to  fall  into  decay?  Because  though  our  social  and 
political  life  is  far  from  being  perfect,  there  is  a  real 
recognition  of  God  and  some   reverence  for  His 


PROPHET'S  PROMISE  OF  PEACE    297 

law,  and  this  makes  possible  a  large  peaceful  com- 
munion between  man  and  man.  Society  is  protected 
by  spiritual  forces  that  are  stronger  than  visible 
bonds  or  material  walls. 

(4)  The  Christian  religion  is  not  a  revolutionary 
attempt  to  sweep  away  all  barriers  and  abolish  all 
distinctions,  but  in  its  nature  it  is  spiritual,  diffusing 
itself  as  an  atmosphere  and  refusing  to  be  con- 
fined within  the  limits  of  any  "chosen  people."  In 
connection  with  the  various  churches  there  has  been 
much  wall-building;  a  needful  operation  at  times, 
but  not  the  highest  order  of  architecture.  Some 
minds  are  easily  provoked  to  build  a  separating 
wall.  If,  however,  any  church  could  succeed  in  mak- 
ing itself  absolutely  a  sect,  cutting  itself  off  com- 
pletely from  the  large  universal  currents  of  life,  it 
would  die ;  its  strong  wall  would  enclose  not  a  living 
city  but  a  silent  tomb.  The  church  can  open  wide 
her  gates  just  in  so  far  as  she  possess  the  fearless 
expansive  life  which  comes  from  the  indwelling 
God. 

(5)  In  our  personal  life  largeness  and  freedom  is 
possible  if  we  carry  within  and  around  us  the  lire 
that  is  kindled  by  the  life  and  love  of  God.  Our 
Lord  broke  down  sectarian  hedges,  ignored  con- 
ventional walls  and  took  the  whole  of  life  as  His 
domain  because  He  incarnated  perfectly  the  purity 
and  peace,  the  conscience  and  charity  of  the  soul 
that  is  absolutely  loyal  to  God. 


THE   PROPHET  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS. 


"And  his  disciples  asked  him  saying,  Why  then  say  the 
scribes  that  Elijah  must  first  come?  And  he  answered 
and  said,  Elijah  indeed  cometh  and  shall  restore  all  things; 
but  I  say  unto  you  that  Elijah  is  come  already,  and  they 
knew  him  not,  but  did  unto  him  whatsoever  they  listed. 
Even  so  shall  the  Son  of  man  also  suffer  of  them.  Then 
understood  the  disciples  that  he  spoke  unto  them  of  John 
the  Baptist." — Matthew  xvii.,  10-13. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

THE  PROPHET  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS 

(malachi.) 

Except  from  this  book  we  do  not  know  anything 
of  a  prophet  named  "Malachi,"'  and  indeed  we  can- 
not be  sure  that  the  word  is  a  personal  name,  it 
may  mean  "My  messenger,"  or  according  to  an- 
other reading  "His  messenger." 

The  suggestion  that  the  face  of  the  great  scribe 
Ezra  is  hidden  behind  this  veil  is  an  old  but  quite 
unreliable  conjecture.  The  book  is  simply  a  frag- 
ment of  prophetic  literature  from  the  dull,  de- 
pressing days  between  the  first  attempt  to  rebuild 
the  temple  and  the  reformation  carried  out  by  Ezra 
and  Nehemiah,  that  is  about  the  end  of  the  fifth 
century  b.  c.  It  may  be  regarded  as  a  part  of 
the  preparation  for  the  movement  which  took  place 
under  those  two  great  men  half  a  century  later.  In 
so  far  as  it  touches  these  matters  it  seems  to  come 
in  between  the  Deuteronomic  demands  and  the  final 
Levitical  arrangements  of  the  Jewish  church. 

The  prophets  were  always  dealing  with  social 
problems  in  this  sense,  that  they  stood  and  worked 
amid  the  great  currents  of  their  nation's  life,  they 
addressed  the  community,  demanding  in  the  name 
of  God  social  purity  and  civic  righteousness.  But 
301 


302   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

the  word  "problem"  has  a  special  appropriateness 
here  because  there  is  a  scholastic  air  of  discussion 
about  this  book  that  we  do  not  find  in  the  earlier 
prophetic  literature.  The  matters  dealt  with  are 
set  forth  in  the  form  of  questions;  it  is  a  process 
of  reasoning  and  lecturing  unlike  the  passionate 
poetic  appeals  of  the  great  prophets.  The  presenta- 
tion is  quite  prosaic;  there  are  bright  flashes  here 
and  there,  but  there  is  no  swift  movement  or 
mighty  swing  in  the  style.  The  short  sermons  are 
preached  on  texts  which  are  introduced  by  the 
words  "Ye  say,"  or  "Yet  say  ye."  The  reasoning 
shows  that  the  writer  lives  in  the  days  of  an  ad- 
vanced creed  though  he  himself  is  not  a  great 
theologian.  Let  us  be  thankful  that  the  power  of 
useful  ministry  is  not  confined  to  a  few  men  in  the 
first  rank  of  genius ;  to  men  of  more  limited  powers 
God  gives  desire,  capacity,  and  inspiration  for  help- 
ful service. 

Especially  do  we  need  to  be  grateful  for  those 
who  kept  alive  the  good  traditions  and  handed 
down  the  sacred  Scriptures  in  dull,  prosaic  days. 
We  can  not  live  all  the  time  at  fever  heat  of  ex- 
citement and  expectation ;  we  cannot  have  for  every 
day  high  poetic  oratory  concerning  the  beauty  of 
Zion,  and  the  imminence  of  the  great  deliverance. 
We  cannot  always  be  listening  to  the  thunder  roll  of 
tremendous  denunciations.  There  are  days  when 
the  supreme  duty  is  to  watch  quietly  and  wait  pa- 
tiently, struggling  in  the  meantime  against  shallow 
scepticism  and  sordid  selfishness.  At  such  a  time 
the  present  seems  very  poor  as  it  does  in  this  book, 
men  feel  that  it  is  only  a  dull  space  between  the 


PROPHET  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  303 

glorious  past  and  a  brighter  future.  "Then  shall 
the  offering  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  be  pleasant 
unto  Jehovah,  as  in  the  days  of  old,  and  as  in  an- 
cient years."  Thus  the  writer  stands  between  a 
great  past  and  a  still  greater  future.  He  sees  great 
truths,  such  as  the  universal  dominion  of  the 
changeless  God,  and  the  fatherhood  of  God  as  a 
sublime  fact  which  has  a  real  bearing  on  social 
life.  He  has  faith  that  upon  those  who  truly  fear 
Jehovah's  name  "the  sun  of  righteousness  shall 
arise  with  healing  in  his  wings."  He  knows  that 
there  must  be  "a  day  of  Jehovah,"  a  judgment  so 
destructive  that  it  shall  leave  of  the  proud  and  the 
workers  of  wickedness  "neither  root  nor  branch," 
as  well  as  a  chastisement  of  the  church  that  shall 
purify  it  for  nobler  service.  And  yet  with  all  these 
bright  gleams  we  feel  that  the  whole  piece  moves 
in  a  depressing  atmosphere  and  is  touched  by  a 
despondent  tone. 

As  to  the  foreign  outlook,  we  find  no  general 
reference ;  the  wide  sweep  of  Amos,  Isaiah  or  Ezek- 
iel  is  absent  and  we  have  one  short  solitary  allu- 
sion to  Edom.  That  Jacob  is  preferred  to  Esau 
has  received  another  and  a  recent  illustration.  The 
Edomites  lift  themselves  up  proudly  in  the  day  of 
disaster,  but  the  prophet  declares  that  their  habita- 
tion shall  be  thrown  down  and  their  land  branded 
as  "The  border  of  wickedness."  This  proves  that 
Jehovah  is  great  beyond  the  borders  of  Israel.  In 
contrast  with  such  severe  punishment  and  complete 
destruction,  the  men  of  Judah  should  see  in  their 
own  destiny  a  token  of  patient  love.  Though  there 
may  be  some  tinge  of  local  jealousy  in  the  form  in 


304   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

which  the  truth  is  here  expressed,  the  sense  of  su- 
periority, the  conviction  of  higher  privilege,  was 
well  founded  and  finds  historical  justification. 

I. — THE  PROBLEM   OF  SACRIFICE    (i  :   6-I4). 

In  this  passage  we  have  a  great  faith  shining 
out  in  the  midst  of  petty  local  difficulties ;  Judah's 
God  is  the  universal  lord ;  wherever  true  sweet  wor- 
ship is  offered  it  is  offered  to  Him,  and  yet  within 
the  borders  of  the  chosen  people  the  name  of  God 
is  profaned  and  the  table  of  Jehovah  polluted. 
The  offerings  presented  are  mean  and  shabby,  wor- 
ship is  reduced  to  a  miserable  task  to  be  shirked, 
or  discharged  with  as  little  trouble  as  possible.  In 
the  service  which  ought  to  be  the  noblest  expres- 
sion of  the  soul's  devotion  there  is  no  dignity,  not 
even  common  decency.  An  offering  that  men 
would  be  afraid  to  present  to  the  local  governor  is 
considered  fit  for  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth. 
A  closed  temple  and  an  empty  altar  might  have 
some  real  significance  and  pathetic  suggestion ;  any- 
thing would  be  better  than  this  wretched  trifling. 
The  priests  are  careless  and  the  laymen  deceitful. 
Public  worship  might  possess  social  joy  or  ecclesi- 
astical dignity,  in  this  case  there  was  neither  vig- 
orous spontaneity  nor  scrupulous  regulation.  What 
is  more  useless  than  worship  that  is  neither  accept- 
able to  God  nor  inspiring  to  men?  There  have 
been  times  in  Israel  when  men  have  attached  a 
worthy  significance  to  "sacrifice";  here  the  word 
has  no  meaning  and  the  thing  no  power.  There  is 
certainly  great  need  for  the  Christ  to  come  with 
his  new  commandment  of  love.     Men  must     be 


PROPHET  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS   305 

taught  in  nobler  ways  the  meaning  of  God's  love 
and  man's  response.  When  men  have  lost  hope 
and  enthusiasm  it  is  hard  to  shame  them  into  de- 
cency or  reason  them  into  reverence.  A  new 
vision  of  the  eternal  Love  is  needed  to  inspire  the 
spirit  of  self-surrender  which  leads  men  to  give 
their  substance  and  devote  their  energies  to  real 
religious  service. 

II. — THE   PROBLEM   OF   PRIESTLY  SERVICE    (il  :    I-IO). 

The  next  passage  is  in  the  same  strain,  but  its 
attack  is  directed  specially  against  the  priests  on 
account  of  their  unfaithfulness.  Surely  the  priests, 
representatives  of  God  and  leaders  of  men,  should 
be  loyal  and  obedient.  This  is  the  ideal,  "For  the 
priest's  lips  should  keep  knowledge  and  they  should 
seek  the  law  at  his  mouth ;  for  he  is  the  messenger 
of  Jehovah  of  hosts."  Our  author  regards  this 
ideal  as  having  been  more  fully  realized  in  ancient 
times ;  "The  law  of  truth  was  in  his  mouth  and  un- 
righteousness was  not  found  in  his  lips ;  he  walked 
with  Me  in  peace  and  uprightness  and  did  turn 
many  away  from  iniquity."  Now  it  is  different; 
the  priestly  class  merit  a  curse  and  shall  be  put  to 
shame;  their  teaching  has  been  crooked  and  they 
have  shown  partiality  in  the  administration  of  the 
law.  The  men  who  treat  a  sacred  profession  as  a 
means  of  personal  gain,  and  show  selfish  favoritism 
shall  surely  be  made  "contemptible  and  base  before 
all  the  people." 

III. — THE   PROBLEM    OF   SOCIAL   ORDER. 

This  concerns  first  the  life  of  the  family,  and 


306  PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

second,  the  church  and  society  in  general  (ii:  10-16, 
ii:  17,  iii:  6).  In  the  first  of  these  two  sections 
we  have  a  powerful  polemic  against  foreign  mar- 
riages, and  looseness  in  regard  to  the  sacredness 
of  family  life.  Loyalty  of  men  to  each  other  within 
Israel  is  based  on  the  fatherhood  of  the  one  God 
who  created  all.  Side  by  side  with  this  statement, 
which  begins  to  have  a  suggestion  of  universality, 
there  is  an  intensely  exclusive  spirit.  The  foreign 
woman  is  spoken  of  as  "the  daughter  of  a  strange 
god."  At  that  time  it  was  necessary  that  purity  of 
blood  and  strictness  of  religion  should  be  pre- 
served. To  us  it  is  more  important  to  note  the 
emphasis  laid  on  the  sacredness  of  the  wedding 
bond,  and  how  near  the  writer  comes  to  the  New 
Testament  position  in  this  particular.  Marriage  is 
not  a  matter  of  personal  caprice  or  temporary  con- 
venience; it  is  a  sacred  tie,  "because  Jehovah  hath 
been  witness  between  thee  and  the  wife  of  thy 
youth . "  Marriage  is  meant  to  be  the  basis  of  fam- 
ily life,  the  children  are  "seed  of  God,"  through 
them  the  nation  is  to  be  preserved  and  the  church 
kept  alive.  Jehovah  hates  divorce.  The  tears  of 
wronged  women  cry  to  heaven  for  vengeance. 
The  man  who  deals  treacherously  with  the  woman 
who  has  given  herself  to  him  shall  be  smitten  with 
a  curse.  The  nation  that  treats  marriage  as  a  trivial 
thing  is  weakening  the  very  foundation  of  social  or- 
der and  family  blessedness.  Through  many  obscuri- 
ties of  text  this  truth  shines  clearly  and  it  is  im- 
portant in  all  times  and  countries. 

This  evil  is   playing  havoc  in  society  and  yet 
there  are  those  who  weary  God  with  their  com- 


PROPHET  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  307 

plaints,  complaints  that  are  the  simple  expression 
of  blindness  and  stupidity.  Through  the  very  mis- 
chief that  is  wrought,  God  is  judging  men  and 
showing  the  righteousness  of  His  law,  and  yet 
they  say,  "Every  one  that  doeth  evil  is  good  in  the 
sight  of  Jehovah  and  He  delighteth  in  them;  or 
where  is  the  God  of  judgment?"  Surely  this  is  lack 
of  insight,  scepticism  of  the  worst  kind.  If  they 
cry  for  judgment,  judgment  they  shall  have,  but 
no  superficial,  one-sided  process.  Let  us  remember 
when  we  appeal  to  heaven's  bar  that  this  is  no  light 
thing.  "Who  may  abide  the  day  of  His  coming?" 
The  judgment  will  be  wide  in  its  range;  it  will 
strike  both  priests  and  people ;  its  mission  will  be  to 
punish  and  purify.  To  the  temple  and  the  market, 
to  the  court  of  justice  and  the  home,  the  messenger 
of  judgment  will  come.  "He  is  like  a  refiner's  fire." 
But  after  the  dreadful  visitation  there  shall  be  pur- 
ity and  peace  once  more.  "Then  shall  the  offering 
of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  be  pleasant  unto  Jehovah 
as  in  the  days  of  old,  and  as  in  ancient  years." 

IV. — THE  PROBLEM  OF  CHURCH  SUPPORT  (ill*.  7"I2). 

After  this  noble  prophecy,  which  would  be  a 
fitting  climax  to  any  sermon,  we  come  back  to  the 
consideration  of  "ordinances"  in  a  narrower  sense. 
In  answer  to  the  startling  question,  "Will  a  man 
rob  God?"  we  are  told  that  the  whole  nation  has 
robbed  God  in  the  matter  of  tithes  and  offerings. 
On  this  account  the  land  is  cursed  with  barrenness. 
If  men  will  be  generous  towards  God,  He  will  pour 
upon  them  rich  store  of  blessing.  "And  all  nations 
shall  call  you  happy ;  for  ye  shall  be  a  delightsome 
land,  saith  Jehovah  of  hosts."     The  form  of  the 


308   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

statement  is  intensely  Jewish,  but  there  is  a  truth  in 
it  that  can  be  translated  into  higher  forms.  Re- 
membering the  strong  words  that  have  gone  before, 
we  cannot  say  that  this  writer  is  forgetful  of  the 
weightier  matters  of  the  law  in  his  zeal  for  the 
tithe.  But  those  who  are  interested  in  church  or- 
ganizations must  guard  against  the  danger  of  wor- 
shipping the  mechanism  even  after  the  spirit  has 
gone  out  of  it.  On  the  other  hand  the  church  has 
a  body  which  must  be  cared  for;  God  is  gracious 
and  truth  is  free,  but  spiritual  ideas  must  embody 
themselves  in  institutions  suited  for  the  times. 
This  calls  for  generous  gifts  of  time,  energy  and 
substance.  If  a  man  is  to  receive  blessing  from  the 
Temple  he  must  give  himself  to  it;  spiritual  bless- 
ings cannot  be  bought  or  sold  in  the  world's  market, 
neither  can  the  fulness  of  blessing  find  its  way 
into  a  narrow,  greedy  heart.  Jesus  Christ  lifts  all 
these  subjects  to  a  higher  plane  with  His  great 
word,  "He  that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake  shall 
find  it." 

V. — THE  PROBLEM  OF  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE. 

(iii.  13;  iv.  3.) 
Here  we  have  reflected  the  despondent  sceptical 
tone  which  prevailed  at  that  time,  quenching  en- 
thusiasm and  paralyzing  effort.  There  were  those 
who  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  "It  is  vain  to  serve 
God,"  and  we  cannot  wonder  when  we  consider 
their  conception  of  this  service.  When  religion  be- 
comes a  mere  mourning  apparel,  put  on  for  the  sake 
of  profit,  there  is  nothing  in  it  to  create  joy  and 
strength.    The  temptation  to  "call  the  proud  hap- 


PROPHET  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  309 

py"  may  beset  a  strong  man  in  the  hour  of  dark- 
ness ;  the  seventy-third  Psalm  shows  us  how  that 
battle  may  be  fought  and  won.  But  even  in  those 
dark  days  there  were  men  of  real  religious  ex- 
perience, that  is,  men  to  whom  the  fear  of  God 
was  the  beginning  of  wisdom  and  the  basis  of  life. 
Such  reverence,  not  a  superficial  solemnity,  is  the 
real  root  of  religion.  That  reverence  is  also  the 
basis  of  truest  friendship  and  sweetest  fellowship. 
That  is  the  real  church,  the  fellowship  of  those  who 
fear  God,  respect  themselves  and  care  for  each 
other.  On  that  church  God  looks  down  with  inter- 
est; He  keeps  its  records,  and  in  the  terrible  day 
when  pride  is  humbled  and  falsehood  put  to  shame 
Jehovah  will  spare  and  cherish  His  own.  Here 
is  a  flash  of  glorious  light  struggling  to  shine 
through  the  thick  darkness.  From  the  side  of  the 
formalist  religious  life  is  a  mere  pretence,  to  the 
man  of  real  godliness  it  is  a  pure  satisfaction,  to 
the  eye  of  God  there  is  in  it  the  promise  of  eternal 
life. 

VI. — THE  PROBLEM  OF  FUTURE  MINISTRY    (iV.  4-6). 

The  answer  to  scepticism  will  be  judgment. 
When  the  day  comes  burning  like  a  furnace  the 
dullest  will  be  able  to  see,  and  these  shallow  grum- 
blers will  be  driven  to  revise  their  estimate  of  life. 
But  before  that  a  minister  is  needed  to  prepare  for 
the  great  day  by  bringing  order  and  peace  into 
family  life.  For  this  purpose  God  will  send  again 
the  great  prophet  Elijah  to  work  with  restless  en- 
ergy and  speak  with  convincing  power.  This  clos- 
ing paragraph  represents  well  the  spirit     of     the 


3io   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

whole  book;  remember  Moses,  look  for  Elijah, 
this  is  the  exhortation  and  it  implies  a  certain  high 
faith  in  the  past  and  the  future,  combined  with  a 
despondent  tone  as  to  the  present.  The  prophet 
rightly  reflects  his  age,  and  such  was  the  prevalent 
spirit;  men  clung  to  the  glorious  memory  of  the 
past  and  they  cherished  hopes  of  better  things  to 
come,  but  on  the  whole  they  felt  as  if  their  own 
day  was  a  dead,  God-forsaken  time.  The  men  of 
that  age  therefore  deserve  thanks  for  holding  fast 
when  the  atmosphere  was  damp  and  chill.  Their 
faith  has  been  justified  in  larger  measure  than  they 
ever  dreamed ;  many  greater  than  Elijah  have  been 
sent  by  the  Eternal  God,  and  by  the  ministry  of  Jesus 
Elijahs  will  continue  to  be  multiplied,  the  church 
will  not  lack  strong,  bold  men,  who  are  ready  to 
speak  the  truth  in  fearless  fashion,  and  who  by 
preaching  peace  will  prepare  for  judgment  and 
turn  away  the  curse. 


A  PROPHET'S  PROTEST  AGAINST  SMALL- 

NESS 


"We  should  fancy  that  Jonah's  portrait  as  he  sat  under 
his  withered  gourd  was  not  a  thing  of  beauty,  or  a  joy 
forever." — Spurgeon. 

"This  apparently  trivial  book  is  one  of  the  deepest  and 
grandest  that  was  ever  written,  and  I  should  like  to  say 
to  every  one  who  approaches  it,  'Take  off  thy  shoes,  for 
the  place  whereon  thou  standest  is  holy  ground.'  In  this 
book  Israelitic  prophecy  quits  the  scene  of  battle  as  victor, 
and  as  victor  in  its  severest  struggle — that  against  self. 
In  it  the  prophecy  of  Israel  succeeded,  as  Jeremiah  ex- 
presses it  in  a  remarkable  and  well-known  passage,  in 
freeing  the  precious  from  the  vile  and  finding  its  better 
self  again."— "The  Prophets  of  Israel,"  by  Prof.  C.  H. 
Cornill,  page  170. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

A  PROPHET'S  PROTEST  AGAINST  SMALL- 

NESS 

Some  of  the  most  competent  and  enthusiastic  ex- 
positors of  this  wonderful  book  complain  bitterly 
of  the  treatment  it  has  received  both  from  the  world 
in  general  and  the  Church  in  particular.  The  tragedy 
of  the  book,  they  tell  us,  is  this,  that  a  picturesque 
piece  of  literature  throbbing  all  through  with  the 
warmest  life  has  been  so  often  handled  in  a  shallow, 
controversial  spirit,  that  a  story  so  constructed  as  to 
carry  from  beginning  to  end  a  great  spiritual  truth, 
an  important  practical  lesson,  has  been  covered  with 
the  dust  of  a  barren  controversy.  Such  a  contro- 
versy cannot  be  altogether  avoided,  and  there  is  no 
doubt  much  to  be  learned  from  the  discussions  that 
have  gathered  round  this  book ;  still  we  believe  that 
the  statement  is  substantially  true,  the  book  of 
Jonah  has  suffered  from  the  very  thing  against 
which  its  original  protest  was  made  namely,  narrow- 
ness of  view.  It  is  not  simply  that  men  have  dif- 
fered in  their  interpretation  of  it;  such  difference 
may  be  healthful  and  stimulating;  but  it  is  this,  that 
under  the  idea  of  "defending"  the  narrative  it  has 
so  often  been  maintained  that  only  one  view  was 
possible,  that  only  on  that  one  view  has  the  book 

3T3 


314   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

any  reality  and  value.  It  is  not  the  purpose  of  the 
present  exposition  to  discuss  in  detail  these  different 
views,  but  rather  to  lay  stress  upon  the  great  lesson 
which  the  book  enshrines  in  such  a  striking  form. 
In  other  words  our  task  is  here,  as  all  through  the 
present  volume,  positive  and  constructive.  If  the 
truths  we  thus  discover  and  develop  are  not  new 
they  are  at  least  in  danger  of  being  neglected,  and 
they  need  bold  emphasis  to-day,  for  the  battle  which 
the  noble  life  must  fight  against  narrowness  is  the 
same  in  substance  though  the  form  is  ever  chang- 
ing. One  remark,  however,  must  be  made  with 
regard  to  this  controversy  whether  the  narrative  is 
literal  history  or  a  poetic  story  whose  main  purpose 
is  to  teach  a  great  lesson.  Even  this,  that  the  ex- 
positors who  accept  the  latter  view  have  not  been 
driven  to  that  position  by  arguments  against  the 
possibility  of  miracles  or  by  vulgar  ridicule  poured 
upon  the  incident  of  "the  great  fish."  That  kind  of 
"negative  criticism"  spent  itself  in  vain  against  the 
faith  of  men  who  felt  that  in  this  book  there  was 
something  of  priceless  value  and  everlasting  use. 
In  the  case  of  thoughtful  Christian  men  a  change 
in  their  explanation  of  this  particular  book  is  not  a 
thing  that  stands  alone,  it  is  part  of  a  larger  move- 
ment involving  what  they  regard  as  a  clearer  view 
of  the  upward  course  of  revelation,  and  a  more  cor- 
rect and  sympathetic  appreciation  of  the  varied 
forms  of  Hebrew  literature  through  which  that 
revelation  comes  to  us.  Such  change  as  this  implies 
a  wide  range  of  reading  and  much  keen,  careful 
thinking;  it  is  in  fact  a  process  which  can  scarcely 
have  full  justice  done  to  it  by  those  who  have  never 


PROTEST  AGAINST  SMALLNESS     315 

passed  through  it.  The  result  at  any  rate  is  the  con- 
viction that  Old  Testament  literature  has  assumed  a 
great  variety  of  forms  and  that  the  student  will  be 
richly  repaid  who  makes  a  conscientious  effort  to 
place  himself  in  the  position  of  the  ancient  historian, 
poet  or  prophet.  He  will  find  the  same  great  truth 
expressed  in  sermon  or  song,  prophecy  or  prayer, 
and  the  vital  fundamental  character  of  the  truth  is 
seen  in  the  very  variety  of  expression  which  it  craves 
and  creates. 

The  first  thing  then  for  a  student  to  do  in  connec- 
tion with  this  book  is  to  treat  it  as  he  would  treat  a 
great  picture,  that  is,  take  a  good  look  at  it,  as  a 
whole,  so  that  all  its  parts  may  be  seen  in  their 
proper  place  and  proportion.  Whatever  view  of  the 
book  we  may  take  it  is  not  right  to  seize  a  minor 
incident,  place  it  in  the  foreground,  and  discuss  that 
to  the  neglect  of  everything  else.  When  we  take  a 
full  sympathetic  view  of  the  whole  picture,  even 
from  the  English  version,  we  can  gain  the  impres- 
sion that  this  short  story  shows  marvelous  powers 
of  vivid  description  and  picturesque  presentation. 
There  is  dramatic  power,  we  are  taken  into  a  real 
world,  we  are  seized  by  a  living  movement ;  the 
man  who  is  put  before  us  as  the  chief  figure  is  shown 
as  faithless  in  his  foolish  flight  from  the  presence 
of  God,  reluctant  in  his  discharge  of  duty,  and 
petulant  as  he  sits  and  waits  for  the  unfolding  of 
destiny.  To  attempt  to  paraphrase  such  a  story 
would  be  to  gild  refined  gold.  Let  each  reader  give 
a  quiet  half  hour  to  the  study  of  the  picture  sketched 
by  one  who  was  both  an  artist  and  a  prophet.  Thus, 
when  we  gain  the  proper  perspective  we  see  that 


316    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

the  protest  against  littleness,  the  stinging  satire 
against  smallness  is  the  main  thing,  it  is  through 
this  that  God  rebukes  our  narrow  bigotry  and  petu- 
lant pride. 

We  are  warned  against  a  small  idea  of  a  prophet. 
The  man  who  wrote  these  words  was  a  prophet  in 
the  deepest  sense.  "And  Jehovah  said,  Thou  hast 
had  pity  on  the  gourd  for  which  thou  hast  not 
laboured  neither  madest  it  grow ;  which  came  up  in  a 
night  and  perished  in  a  night;  and  should  not  I 
have  pity  on  Nineveh,  that  great  city,  wherein  are 
more  than  six-score  thousand  persons  that  cannot 
discern  between  their  right  hand  and  their  left 
hand;  and  also  much  cattle?"  Yes,  the  divine  pity 
and  tenderness  that  breathe  through  these  words 
manifest  the  real  prophetic  spirit,  the  spirit,  that  is, 
of  the  man  who  has  learned  that  loyalty  to  God  and 
love  to  men  are  the  two  sides  of  the  same  religious 
life.  The  author  of  the  book  is  indeed  a  prophet 
but  his  Jonah  is  a  small  creature  who,  on  his  own 
confession,  makes  his  personal  comfort  and  reputa- 
tion the  supreme  consideration.  A  prophet  is  a  man 
who  looks  out  upon  the  world  from  the  standpoint 
of  God  and  humanity ;  he  never  allows  self-interest 
and  selfish  ease  to  loom  so  large  upon  his  horizon 
that  all  other  needs  and  demands  are  hidden.  How 
does  Jonah  stand  this  test  ?  He  flees  from  duty  be- 
cause a  merciful  God  in  answer  to  penitent  prayer 
will  avert  the  doom  which  he  has  predicted,  and 
so  his  reputation  for  clear  foresight  and  accurate 
calculation  will  be  damaged,  or  his  claim  to  be 
a  God-sent  messenger  will  be  rendered  null  and 
void.    This  is  the  sophistry  of  a  small  soul !  Further, 


PROTEST  AGAINST  SMALLNESS     317 

when  he  has  delivered  his  message  he  goes  outside 
the  city,  makes  himself  comfortable  and  sits  down 
to  wait  and  "see  what  would  become  of  the  city." 
What  does  he  care  what  becomes  of  it  so  long  as  the 
reputation  of  Jonah  the  great  prophet  is  not  injured? 
Seated  there  he  manifested  the  same  smallness  of 
spirit;  the  gourd  had  no  living  relation  to  him,  he 
had  not  spent  any  thoughtful  care  or  loving  sym- 
pathy upon  it,  but  it  suited  his  convenience,  it  was 
a  good  umbrella ;  when  it  was  taken  away  and  he 
lost  its  pleasant  shade,  he  was  hot  and  uncomfort- 
able and  wished  that  he  might  die;  he  thought  that 
he  did  well  to  be  angry  with  God  and  all  the  world. 
Very  far  was  he  from  the  spirit  of  resignation  man- 
ifested in  the  words — 

"Jehovah  gave,  Jehovah  takes  away; 
Jehovah's  name  be  blessed." 

(Job  i.  21.) 

These  words  express  the  submission  of  the  pious 
man  who  struggles  hard  to  maintain  his  faith,  even 
when  life  seems  hopeless.  Jonah  under  a  trifling 
loss  believes  that  all  things  in  heaven  and  earth  con- 
spire against  his  comfort.  This  is  not  the  ideal  of  a 
true  prophet ;  it  is  rather  an  early  form  of  the 
Pharisee,  and  it  would  not  have  been  sketched  in 
this  vivid  fashion,  if  there  had  not  been  good  men 
who  were  in  danger  of  having  their  life  blighted  by 
such  narrowness. 

We  are  warned  against  a  small  idea  of  truth. 
What  is  the  true  fulfilment  of  prophecy?  Is  it  not 
that  it  should  enter  into  the  life  of  man  and  become 
an  effectual  force  for  righteousness?     The  saying 


318   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

of  an  ancient  expositor  that  prophecy  is  given  not  to 
be  fulfilled  but  that  it  may  not  be  fulfilled  suits  this 
case ;  even  if  it  cannot  be  applied  universally,  it  rep- 
resents the  position  of  the  true  prophet  who  preaches 
judgment  in  the  hope  that  mercy  may  follow.  That 
which  burdened  the  heart  of  the  great  prophets 
was  not  the  thought  that  the  mercy  of  God  might 
put  to  shame  their  predictions  of  doom,  but  rather 
the  fact  that  the  people  would  not  place  themselves 
in  the  condition  which  made  it  possible  for  a  right- 
eous God  to  be  merciful.  If  in  the  spirit  of  sym- 
pathy a  preacher  tells  a  young  man  that  he  is  going 
to  darkness  and  destruction,  and  if  the  word  by  its 
tone  and  truth  arrests  the  attention  and  quickens 
the  conscience  of  that  young  man  so  that  he  turns  his 
face  toward  the  light  of  heaven,  and  the  love  of 
Jesus,  is  not  the  prophecy  fulfilled?  Yes,  it  is  ful- 
filled in  the  truest,  noblest  sense,  it  has  entered  into 
the  young  man's  life  and  through  him  it  will  enter 
into  the  human  life  in  which  he  shares. 

If  the  word  remains  outside  of  the  man  it  is  ful- 
filled in  a  different  sense ;  when  mercy  is  repeatedly 
rejected,  judgment  goes  unchecked  to  its  final  result ; 
but  the  Cross  as  a  sacred  symbol,  speaks  to  us  of  all 
the  love  and  care  which  constantly  seeks  to  save  men 
from  destruction  by  turning  them  from  sin. 

If  the  truth  thus  suggested  is  embodied  in  a 
typical  case  and  not  merely  in  the  life  of  an  individ- 
ual, it  is  none  the  less  true.  To  think  that  truth  con- 
cerns only  particular  facts  is  a  small  idea  of  truth. 
The  touching  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son  is  not 
to  be  lightly  swept  aside  as  "fiction"  because  we 
cannot  prove  that  it  referred  to  some  definite  youth 


PROTEST  AGAINST  SMALLNESS     319 

in  Jerusalem  or  Nazareth;  it  is  much  more  than  a 
personal  photograph ;  it  is  a  symbol  of  the  life  of 
humanity,  and  in  it  many  wandering  souls  have 
found  their  own  experience  mirrored.  If  you  saw 
a  man  broken  down  under  the  weight  of  conviction 
brought  to  a  deeper  sense  of  sin  by  the  ministry  of 
that  incomparable  parable,  you  could  surely  never  be 
guilty  of  such  stupidity  as  to  suggest  that  he  is 
allowing  his  mind  to  be  distressed  and  his  heart  to  be 
tormented  by  an  imaginary  picture.  Centuries  ago 
a  great  Greek  thinker  taught  that  poetry  is  truer 
than  history;  and  at  the  present  stage  of  our  ex- 
perience it  ought  to  be  a  common-place  saying  that 
there  are  some  kinds  of  "fiction"  that  are  truer  than 
truth,  that  is,  they  bring  us  nearer  to  the  heart  of 
things,  to  the  vision  of  real  life  than  a  crude  collec- 
tion of  facts  can  possibly  do.  The  highest  work  of 
imagination  is  not  to  invent  artificial,  grotesque 
combinations  of  thoughts  or  things  but  to  unveil  the 
hidden  springs  of  life,  and  to  show  the  real  relations 
of  the  spiritual  kingdom.  The  evil  is  not  that  truth 
should  come  to  us  in  varied  forms,  prosaic  and 
poetic,  personal  and  typical ;  if  we  really  grasp  the 
great  idea,  the  living  principle,  the  exact  form  of 
its  embodiment  is  a  subordinate  consideration ;  but 
it  is  an  evil  that  we  are  so  often  not  seeking  the 
truth  at  all  but  want  support  for  our  prejudice  or 
stimulus  for  our  pleasure,  and  that  so  many  can 
take  pleasure  in  low  ideals  and  false  views  of  life. 

We  need  further  to  take  the  warning  against  a 
small  idea  of  history.  Let  us  not  despise  facts,  or  we 
shall  become  vain  dreamers ;  in  science  the  accuracy 
of  observation    and    in    history    the    faithfulness 


320   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

of  the  recital  are  of  supreme  importance.  But 
in  the  realm  of  ideas  and  beliefs  we  can- 
not apply  mathematical  measures,  and  statistical 
reports.  A  mathematical  formula  has  its  own  value, 
a  strict  record  of  particular  transactions  may  be  of 
the  highest  importance  but  the  world  is  large  and 
life  is  subtle  so  that  there  are  other  valuable  forms 
of  expression  and  testimony.  Hence  there  is  more 
than  one  kind  of  history.  We  have,  at  the  present 
time,  no  controversy  with  the  man  who  maintains 
that  this  book  is  a  literal  record  of  fact,  that  every 
feature  of  the  description  had  its  corresponding  event 
in  the  world  of  sense,  but  we  are  opposing  with  all 
the  weight  of  legitimate  argument  the  man  who 
says  that  if  such  view  is  denied  the  historical  value 
of  the  book  is  lost.  There  are  many  kinds  of  history. 
At  one  time  people  of  our  own  race  were  content  to 
regard  history  as  a  list  of  battles,  a  record  of  ex- 
traordinary events,  a  series  of  royal  biographies,  or 
something  of  that  kind,  now  we  know  that  the  suc- 
cessful historian  is  the  man  who  reproduces  the  life 
and  makes  us  realize  the  ruling  forces  of  a  given 
period.  This  requires  something  of  philosophic  in- 
sight and  artistic  creative  genius,  it  is  a  difficult 
thing  to  do  and  is  never  perfectly  done. 

Two  kinds  of  history  we  need  to  mention  for  our 
present  purpose,  the  history  of  a  soul,  and  the  history 
of  a  truth.  A  comprehensive  view  of  this  book 
convinces  us  that  the  writer's  main  concern  is  with 
the  inward  life  of  Jonah.  If  he  meant  to  write  the 
history  of  an  actual  expedition  to  Nineveh  his  narra- 
tive has  many  missing  links,  there  are  many  inter- 
esting questions  of  detail  that  he  has  left  unanswered 


PROTEST  AGAINST  SMALLNESS     321 

but  if  he  meant  to  give  us  the  picture  of  the  man's 
spiritual  life,  and  to  show  what  Jonah's  idea  of 
prophecy  was,  and  how  a  man  with  such  an  idea 
must  look  up  to  God  and  out  upon  the  world,  how 
the  false  selfish  point  of  view  must  warp  the  whole 
life  and  degrade  the  temper — then  he  has  succeeded 
perfectly.  With  wonderful  skill  our  author  has 
arranged  all  the  material  at  his  command  so  as  to 
make  it  reflect  the  strongest  light  upon  the  char- 
acter and  career  of  the  chief  figure.  Only  when  he 
accepts  his  fate  and  surrenders  himself  to  the  storm 
with  these  words  "I  know  that  for  my  sake  this 
great  tempest  is  upon  you,"  only  then  does  Jonah 
attain  to  the  slightest  semblance  of  dignity  and 
submission;  everything  else  is  coloured  by  his  nar- 
rowness of  temper  and  his  false  view  of  the  pro- 
phetic function.  When  this  is  patiently  pondered, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  really  prominent  thing  is  the 
history  of  the  soul  that  allows  itself  to  be  cramped 
by  the  influence  of  a  narrow  bigoted  selfishness. 

Further  there  is  such  a  thing  as  the  history  of  an 
idea,  the  growth  of  a  great  truth,  and  this  history 
is  of  great  significance.*  We  know  that  the  very 
battles  which  were  necessary  to  prevent  the  He- 
brew religion  from  being  crushed  by  foreign  in- 
fluence, or  dragged  down  by  popular  supersti- 
tion tended  to  beget,  along  with  strength  of 
character,  an  exclusive  spirit  and  a  harsh  temper. 
For  the  time  exclusiveness  was  necessary  in  order 
to  preserve  the  spiritual  treasure  which  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God  was  meant  for  all  mankind.  But 
there  was  danger  in  the  situation.    Small  men  were 

♦See  Chapter  XXI. 


322   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

led  to  consider  the  exclusiveness  as  the  essence  of 
the  religion,  and  to  think  that  the  great  truths  they 
had  received  were  a  perpetual  monopoly  for  their 
own  race.  It  was  quite  natural  for  the  average  man 
to  drift  into  this  position,  for  it  is  always  easy  to 
mistake  the  temporary  circumstance  for  the  eternal 
principle.  Hence  it  was  at  the  time  when  the  cycle 
of  prophecy  was  about  complete,  and  the  revelation 
given  to  Israel  had  reached  the  point  when  it  be- 
came both  by  its  loftiness  and  its  incompleteness  an 
anticipation  of  the  Christian  faith ;  it  was  then  that 
the  hardest  crust  gathered  around  it  and  certain  of 
its  defenders  showed  that  it  was  possible  to  be 
jealous  guardians  of  "the  law  and  the  prophets" 
without  possessing  the  discrimination  and  spiritu- 
ality of  the  true  prophet.  This  tendency  grew  and 
became  so  strong  that  it  was  the  bitterest  enemy 
our  Lord  had  to  meet.  The  narrow  spirit  of  Juda- 
ism so  blinded  the  minds  and  hardened  the  hearts 
of  its  leading  representatives  that  they  could  not 
recognize  the  true  King.  They  honored  the  memory 
of  prophets  whom  their  fathers  had  persecuted  and 
they  themselves  slew  the  greatest  prophet  that  God 
ever  gave  to  this  world. 

But  on  the  other  hand,  there  were  those  who  saw, 
even  if  imperfectly,  that  the  knowledge  of  the  true 
God  meant  responsibility  as  well  as  privilege,  that 
Israel's  election  was  an  election  to  service,  that 
vengeance  upon  the  heathen  could  not  be  all  that 
was  in  the  heart  of  a  merciful  righteous  God.* 
These  men  valued  highly  the  peculiar  privilege  of 
their  nation  and  their  Church,  but  gifted  with  spir- 

*See  Chapter  XXI. 


PROTEST  AGAINST  SMALLNESS    323 

itual  insight  and  true  human  sympathies  they  had  a 
purer  and  larger  idea  of  Israel's  mission.  These  two 
tendencies  struggled  together  within  the  bosom  of 
the  same  religion,  the  narrow  national  thought  con- 
quered to  this  extent  that  it  nailed  the  Son  of  man  to 
the  cross ;  but  in  that  seeming  conquest  it  met  defeat, 
for  by  the  disciples  of  the  new  faith  the  broad  uni- 
versal spirit  receives  its  highest  expression  and  with 
the  cry  "Jesus  and  the  resurrection"  the  religion 
was  born  that  refuses  to  recognize  any  barrier  of 
race  or  clan.  The  book  of  Jonah  is  part  of  the 
history  of  that  great  movement,  it  has  an  intrinsic 
beauty  and  attraction,  and  as  part  of  a  great  spirit- 
ual conflict  it  is  of  permanent  significance.  If  we 
look  around  and  within  we  shall  find  the  same  con- 
flict in  process ;  the  movement  advances,  God's  pur- 
poses become  clearer  but  still  in  a  real  sense  each 
community  and  each  soul  must  fight  the  battle  anew. 
If  in  the  picture  of  Jonah  we  see  ourselves  in  our 
small  hours,  when  personal  feeling  and  selfish  con- 
siderations have  played  too  large  a  part,  we  may 
learn  that  it  is  ridiculous  as  well  as  wicked  to  make 
self  the  centre  of  God's  world,  and  to  be  so  inflamed 
by  vain  self-conceit  as  to  imagine  that  the  divine 
purpose  can  be  moulded  to  our  personal  convenience. 
Thus  the  book  not  only  reveals  the  conflict  of 
opposite  views  and  hostile  forces  in  the  history  of 
the  chosen  people  but  it  lives  to  help  us  in  the  battle 
which  goes  on  within  our  own  souls,  it  bids  us  come 
out  of  a  close,  selfish  atmosphere,  and  look  at  life  in 
the  light  of  eternity,  so  that  we  may  sympathize  more 
cordially  with  the  mercy  of  God  and  the  needs  of 
men. 


THE  PROPHET  OF  JUDAISM— JOEL 


"To  Joel  this  world  is  a  great  drama;  the  history  of 
humanity  is  a  tragedy;  this  world  is  ruled  and  controlled 
by  a  holy  righteous  God ;  this  world  exists  for  the  pro- 
duction of  ethical,  religious,  eternal  character;  this  world 
is  being  sculptured  into  a  kingdom  of  holiness,  righteous- 
ness, truth,  goodness,  and  love.  I  do  not  care  how  many 
defects  and  ignorances  there  are;  I  do  not  care  how  much 
of  weak  personal  feeling  mingles  in  Joel's  declaration  of 
that  faith;  but  I  tell  you  what  it  is:  All  that  is  grand, 
and  great,  and  heroic,  and  good  in  our  world  has  grown 
out  of  faith  in  man's  soul,  often  dark  and  obscure  and 
ignorant — faith  that  this  world  belongs  to  God,  is  ruled  by 
God,  and  shall  at  last  be  judged  by  God." — The  late  Dr.  W. 
G.  Elmslie,  "Expository  Lectures  and  Sermons,"  page  94. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

THE  PROPHET  OF  JUDAISM— JOEL 

This  prophecy  is  of  a  different  order  from  those 
we  have  found  in  the  earlier  books;  the  writer  is 
rather  a  poet  than  a  prophet,  he  addresses  a  small 
community,  and  the  Temple  is  the  centre  of  his 
world  and  the  supreme  object  of  his  sympathy.  Joel 
was  evidently,  according  to  his  capacity,  a  man  of 
noble  spirit  who  had  studied  the  earlier  writings 
and  who  gladly  places  his  literary  gifts  at  the  ser- 
vice of  the  church.  In  his  writings  we  seem  to 
reach  a  point  where  the  prophet  is  beginning  to 
give  way  to  the  theologian  and  the  scribe.  His 
carefully  prepared  sermon  has  a  real  significance, 
as  a  revelation  of  his  faith,  and  as  a  document  of 
that  Jewish  church  which  was  now  reaching  its 
final  stage  of  development.  The  small  Jewish 
community,  sheltered  within  the  large  frame-work 
of  the  Persian  Empire,  was  free  to  devote  itself 
exclusively  to  religious  and  ecclesiastical  interests ; 
its  circumstances  might  be  miserable,  and  its  noblest 
life  drawn  largely  from  the  past,  but  in  these  dull, 
prosaic  days  it  was  preserving  a  great  treasure  for 
the  world  and  preparing  for  another  heroic  strug- 
gle. Before  the  Exile  the  prophet  is  a  critic  of  the 
church,  afterwards  he  becomes  a  comforter  of  a 

327 


328    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

struggling  community,  in  Joel  he  appears  as  a 
churchman  who  devotes  his  patriotic  fervour  and 
prophetic  fire  to  keep  alive  the  flame  of  sacrifice 
upon  the  altar.  In  this  position  also  real  inspiration 
is  possible,  and  a  man  of  true  prophetic  spirit  may 
catch  the  command,  "Strengthen  the  things  that 
remain  that  are  ready  to  die."  And  yet  it  is  worth 
while  noting  where  the  particular  prophet  places 
his  emphasis,  and  the  kind  of  dress  that  he  con- 
siders appropriate  for  the  clothing  of  his  thoughts 
concerning  God  and  the  world.  We  have  here, 
then,  the  poetic  picture  of  a  great  calamity,  the 
prophet's  persuasive  call  to  national  penitence,  the 
promise  of  acceptance  and  blessing  which  expands 
into  a  programme  of  final  judgment. 

The  prophet's  description  and  interpretation  of 
the  calamity  has  its  special  features.  Doubtless  a 
plague  of  locusts  is  a  terrible  event,  bringing  sad- 
ness and  gloom  upon  the  community,  and  the  start- 
ing point  of  this  prophecy  is  such  a  real  historical 
incident,  but  surely  the  locust  plague  has  once  for 
all  found  its  poet;  Joel  pictures  with  wonderful 
vividness  the  march  of  the  devouring  army;  his 
presentation  is  realistic  and  yet  is  coloured  by  his 
peculiar  theological  idealism,  the  plague  suggests  if 
it  does  not  actually  symbolize  a  visitation  of  still 
larger  significance. 

"They  leap  upon  the  city ;  they  run  upon  the  wall ; 

They  climb  up  into  the  houses ;  they  enter  in  at  the 
windows  like  a  thief. 

The  earth  quaketh  before  them ;  the  heavens  trem- 
ble; 


PROPHET  OF  JUDAISM  329 

The  sun  and  the  moon  are  darkened,  and  the  stars 
withdraw  their  shining, 

And  Jehovah  uttereth  His  voice  before  His  army ; 

For  His  camp  is  very  great; 

For  He  is  strong  that  executeth  His  word ; 

For  the  day  of  Jehovah  is  very  great  and  terri- 
ble," etc. 

Two  powerful  descriptions  in  which  every  word 
is  suggestive  and  every  stroke  of  the  style  tells  its 
pitiful  tale,  culminate  in  the  twofold  exhortation, 
"Sanctify  a  fast,  call  a  solemn  assembly,  gather  the 
old  men  and  all  the  inhabitants  into  the  house  of 
Jehovah  your  God,  and  cry  unto  Jehovah."  "Blow 
the  trumpet  in  Zion,  sanctify  a  fast,  call  a  solemn 
assembly,  sanctify  the  congregation,  assemble  the 
old  men,  gather  the  children  and  those  that  suck 
the  breasts;  let  the  bridegroom  go  forth  of  his 
chamber  and  the  bride  out  of  her  closet."  The 
central  position  of  the  Temple  is  brought  out  in 
the  way  in  which  the  loss  of  the  means  of  sacrifice 
is  regarded  as  the  supreme  and  significant  result 
of  the  great  disaster.  "Is  not  the  meat  cut  off 
before  our  eyes,  joy  and  gladness  from  the  house 
of  our  God?"  "Who  knoweth  whether  he  will  not 
turn  and  repent,  and  leave  a  blessing  behind  him, 
even  a  meal  offering  and  a  drink  offering  to 
Jehovah  your  God?"  What  a  strange  contrast  be- 
tween this  and  the  position  of  Isaiah  when  he 
stands  and  pours  his  fierce  contempt  upon  the 
sacrifices  that  had  ceased  to  be  symbols  of  right- 
eousness (i:  10  f).  But  Joel  also  sought  righteous- 
ness in  his  own  way ;  the  circumstances  are  differ- 
ent, the  whole  point  of  view  has  changed. 


330   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

Joel  does  not  give  a  prominent  position  to  the 
demand  for  deeper  morality  and  nobler  righteous- 
ness that  is  so  characteristic  of  the  prophetic 
preaching.  His  people  are  poor  and  to  be  pitied ; 
he  reserves  his  stern  proclamation  of  vengeance 
for  the  outside  world.  If  only  there  can  be  a  real 
service  of  humiliation,  when  the  whole  community 
prostrates  itself  in  sincere  penitence  before  God, 
then  all  will  be  well.  He  does  give  a  high  place 
to  the  outward  act,  the  church  ceremony,  but  we 
cannot  charge  him  with  formalism  in  the  face  of 
that  one  magnificent  word,  "rend  your  heart,  and 
not  your  garments,  and  turn  unto  Jehovah  your 
God."  But  this  much  we  can  say,  that  in  our 
preaching  the  ethical  and  spiritual  drawn  from 
the  other  prophets  must  play  a  larger  part,  lest  we 
find  ourselves  with  an  elaborate  organization  and 
well  supplied  temple  from  which  the  life  has  slipped 
away.  The  duty  of  public  humiliation  or  of  united 
thanksgiving  may  still  have  its  appropriate  place, 
but  these  must  be  guarded  against  false  views  of 
religion,  and  narrow  thoughts  of  God.  Joel  did  his 
own  work  faithfully,  but  because  we  are  taught  in 
the  school  of  Christ  our  whole  system  of  thought 
and  movement  of  life  cannot  revolve  round  one 
ecclesiastical  idea. 

To  Joel  "the  day  of  Jehovah"  is  near,  this  terrible 
day  seems  to  be  coming  in  the  plague  of  locusts, 
and  when  that  calamity  has  passed  and  in  answer  to 
penitent  prayer  blessing  is  promised,  "the  day  of 
Jehovah"  is  still  near.  The  plague  shall  be  removed, 
the  land  shall  again  prosper,  all  that  has  been  taken 
away  shall  be  restored.    "Ye  shall  eat  in  plenty  and 


PROPHET  OF  JUDAISM  331 

be  satisfied,  and  shall  praise  the  name  of  Jehovah 
your  God,  that  hath  dealt  wondrously  with  you ; 
and  my  people  shall  never  be  ashamed."  Then 
follows  the  promise  of  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit 
with  its  accompanying  signs,  and  finally  the  last 
act  of  the  great  world-drama,  when  the  nations  shall 
be  gathered  into  the  valley  of  judgment,  near  Jeru- 
salem, in  order  to  receive  due  punishment  for  their 
offences  against  the  chosen  people.  "But  Judah 
shall  abide  forever,  and  Jerusalem  from  generation 
to  generation."  In  this  programme  we  may  fairly 
say  that  the  only  ethical  idea  that  is  brought  out 
clearly  and  vigorously  is  that  the  foreign  nations 
shall  be  punished  for  their  unjust  violence,  shame- 
less greed,  and  unrelenting  hatred  toward  Israel. 
This  thought  that  God  will  avenge  the  nation's 
wrongs  is  an  important  one,  but  it  may  be  held  in 
a  one-sided  fashion.  The  promise  of  Israel's  pros- 
perity also  lays  stress  on  outward  circumstance 
rather  than  inward  character,  "And  it  shall  come  to 
pass  in  that  day  that  the  mountains  shall  drop  down 
sweet  wine,  and  the  hills  shall  flow  down  with 
milk,"  etc. 

( 1 )  It  seems  clear  that  the  closing  portion  of  the 
book  is  dominated  by  the  strict  exclusive  Jewish 
spirit  which  condemns  the  world  to  destruction  and 
reserves  everlasting  privileges  for  the  Jews.  "All 
flesh"  upon  whom  the  Spirit  is  poured,  according 
to  the  context,  and  the  general  standpoint  of  the 
book,  refers  to  the  children  of  Israel.  The  apostle 
Peter,  just  before  he  was  prepared  for  a  wider 
view,  says:  "For  to  you  is  the  promise,  and  to 
your  children,  and  to  all  that  are  afar  off,  even  as 


332    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

many  as  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call  unto  Him." 
But  we  must  not  judge  this  exclusiveness  unreason- 
ably. By  its  very  stiffness  and  sternness  it  did  a 
good  work  in  helping  to  preserve  the  purity  of  the 
Jewish  religion  against  Samaritan  superstition, 
Syrian  persecution  and  the  baser  side  of  Greek  in- 
fluence. This,  however,  is  only  one  side  of  a  great 
question ;  the  missionary  hope  also  has  its  roots  in 
the  teaching  of  Old  Testament  prophets.  Let  us 
treat  these  messengers  of  God  sympathetically,  and 
at  the  same  time  cleanse  our  own  minds  from  small 
sectarianism  rather  than  waste  our  energies  in 
denouncing  the  narrowness  of  men,  who  by  God's 
grace  builded  better  than  they  knew.* 

(2)  "The  day  of  Jehovah"  is  a  phrase  that  plays 
a  great  part  in  the  teaching  of  the  prophets  from 
the  time  when  Amos  rescued  it  from  popular  de- 
gradation. In  Joel  it  seems  to  be  rather  a  theolog- 
ical conception,  a  part  of  a  creed  than  an  actual 
vision.  All  through  he  works  from  the  belief  that 
"the  day  of  Jehovah"  is  near;  in  the  first  stage  a 
chastisement  on  Israel  calling  for  penitence  and 
prayer ;  in  the  second  a  day  of  doom  for  the  foreign 
foe.  In  the  other  prophets  the  working  out  of  this 
idea  occurs  in  connection  with  some  real  historical 
event  which  threatens  the  life  or  influences  greatly 
the  fortunes  of  Israel;  here  it  is  a  general  outlook 
into  the  future  proceeding  from  the  writer's  relig- 
ious beliefs.  Its  spiritual  meaning  is  to  some  ex- 
tent preserved  in  that  it  is  preceded  by  a  great  act 
of  humiliation,   which  makes  prominent  the     ac- 


*See  Chapters  XX,  XXI,  XXVI. 


PROPHET  OF  JUDAISM  333 

knowledgment  that  only  by  forgiveness  and  purifi- 
cation can  even  Israelites  be  prepared  for  the 
dreadful  appearance  of  Jehovah's  great  day.  It 
is  just  as  possible  now  as  in  the  olden  times  for 
men  to  talk  glibly  of  "the  day  of  the  Lord,"  and 
glory  in  its  nearness  without  realizing  its  awful 
significance.  It  is  also  possible  for  us  to  cling  to 
a  system  of  thought  and  form  of  words  out  of 
which  all  definite  meaning  and  living  power  has 
gone.  We  must  re-think  the  old  sacred  phrases 
and  refresh  our  minds  by  finding  out  what  they 
once  meant  and  what  they  still  symbolize. 

(3)  The  prophet's  programme  has  not  been  ful- 
filled in  the  exact  form  in  which  he  presented  it; 
nor  do  we  expect  that  God  will  literally  gather  the 
nations  into  the  neighbourhood  of  Jerusalem  to 
wreck  His  vengeance  upon  them.  About  four  cen- 
turies after  this  the  Roman  armies  gathered  round 
the  ill-fated  city ;  in  spite  of  the  resistance  of  noble 
patriots  and  fierce  fanatics  they  succeeded  in  level- 
ling its  walls,  capturing  its  citadel  and  desecrating 
its  temple.  Since  then  broken-hearted  Judaism  has 
suffered  the  scorn  of  a  thoughtless,  cruel  world. 
And  yet  in  a  real  sense  the  movement  of  history  has 
justified  the  prophet's  teaching.  The  judgment 
against  the  nations  has  worked  itself  out.  The  light 
trivial  tribes  have  vanished,  leaving  hardly  a  trace 
behind.  The  great  empires  founded  by  force,  and 
driven  by  selfish  greed,  have  crumbled  to  pieces. 
The  Oriental  empires  that  were  the  most  splendid 
specimens  of  earthly  magnificence,  have  left  the 
smallest  legacy  to  humanity.  To-day  we  all  ac- 
knowledge the  truth  that  Hebrew  prophets  saw  so 


334    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

clearly,  and  sometimes  proclaimed  so  fiercely, 
namely  this,  that  there  is  a  judgment-day  for  na- 
tions; that  sensuality,  cruelty  and  greed  not  only 
injure  the  victims  and  outrage  the  law  of  heaven, 
they  cause  the  life  of  the  proud  nation  to  become 
rotten  at  the  core. 

On  the  other  side  there  has  also  been  fulfilment. 
The  Christian  religion  proved  itself  the  true  suc- 
cessor of  ancient  prophecy  by  the  way  in  which 
it  seized  the  eternal  part  and  lifted  it  to  fuller 
beauty  and  larger  power.  Jerusalem  does  in  a  very 
real  sense  abide  forever  and  send  forth  a  living 
message.  It  may  be  that  in  many  forms  Babylon 
is  with  us  still,  but  the  judgment  of  the  wise  and 
thoughtful  is  not  bewildered  or  perverted  by  the 
glamour  of  worldly  success.  We  can  see  that 
Judaism,  even  when  it  was  defeated  and  disheart- 
ened, has  preserved  many  truths  and  laws  needful 
for  the  highest  life  of  the  world.  And  we  can 
cherish  the  clear,  strong  conviction  that  the  mes- 
sage of  mercy,  the  evangel  of  love  which  finds  its 
fullest  expression  in  the  suffering  Christ,  gives 
nobler  meaning  to  prophetic  hope  and  vindicates  in 
even  a  larger  way  the  eternal  righteousness. 


THE  PROPHET'S  CERTAINTY,  OR  THE 

CHANGING  FORM  AND  THE 

ETERNAL  LIFE 


"The  Revelation  recorded  in  the  Bible  is  a  jewel  which 
God  has  given  us  in  a  setting  of  human  history.  The 
love  of  God  to  His  people  now  is  the  continuation  of  the 
love  which  He  showed  to  our  fathers ;  and  Christianity, 
like  all  else  that  is  of  value  in  the  spiritual  possessions  of 
mankind,  is  an  inheritance  the  worth  and  permanence  of 
which  have  been  tried  by  the  experiences  of  generations. 
Such  treasures  are  not  -won  without  effort  and  battle. 
What  is  appropriated  easily  is  as  easily  lost,  and  the 
abiding  possessions  of  humanity  consist  of  truths  that 
have  been  knit  and  strengthened  by  long  habit,  and  insti- 
tutions that  have  been  shaped  ar.d  polished  by  the  friction 
of  practical  use.  A  religion  fit  to  be  a  part  of  actual 
life  cannot  be  exempt  from  this  law,  and  revelation  itself 
has  become  a  force  in  human  conduct  only  by  first  becom- 
ing a  factor  in  human  history." — Robertson  Smith's  "The 
Prophets  of  Israel,"  Lecture  I. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

THE  PROPHET'S   CERTAINTY,  OR  THE 

CHANGING  FORM  AND  THE 

ETERNAL  LIFE 

(Haggai  ii.  6-9;  Hebrews  xii.  27,  28.) 
One  of  the  most  remarkable  passages  in  that 
noble  treatise  called  "the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews," 
is  an  application  and  an  adaptation  to  the  writer's 
own  time  of  a  part  of  Haggai's  prophecy ;  the  Bible 
student  will  do  well  to  place  side  by  side  the  words 
of  the  prophet-preacher,  and  those  of  the  Christian 
teacher.  Thus  we  learn  that  though  the  external 
circumstances  and  spiritual  atmosphere  are  different 
the  real  living  faith  is  the  same.  In  the  days  of 
Haggai  the  nation  was  only  a  small  remnant,  what 
the  world  calls  "a  miserable  few,"  and  the  people 
looking  back  to  the  distant  redemption  under 
Moses,  the  heroic  days  of  David,  the  peaceful,  pros- 
perous times  of  Solomon,  were  in  danger  of  think- 
ing that  their  golden  days  were  all  in  the  past, 
that  the  future  could  have  nothing  in  store  to  be 
compared  to  the  splendour  of  the  ancient  days. 
When  men  give  too  much  way  to  that  feeling,  ac- 
tion is  paralyzed ;  they  spend  their  strength  in  vain 
regrets,  lamenting  the  loss  of  "the  good  old  times." 
This  is  not  the  attitude  of  faith,  and  God's  messen- 
337 


338   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

ger  can  never  be  content  with  it ;  though  he  himself 
in  his  phrase  "yet  once  more"  may  show  trace  of 
human  limitations,  he  is  so  far  in  advance  of  the 
people  that  he  can  confidently  declare  the  truth  that 
the  divine  programme  has  never  been  completely 
realized,  the  future  has  still  greater  things  to  reveal, 
God  has  yet  more  light  to  break  forth  from  His 
word.  God  will  not  only  shake  the  earth  as  in  the 
days  of  Moses,  He  will  also  shake  the  heavens. 
He  will  shake  all  nations;  men  will  then  recog- 
nize the  meaning  of  this  neglected  impoverished 
Temple,  and  they  will  gladly  minister  to  the  life  of 
the  true  Church.  To  understand  this  prophecy,  its 
noble  spirit,  as  well  as  its  local  limitations,  we 
must  remember  the  difficult  but  necessary  work  of 
church  building  which  strained  the  efforts  of  the 
small  Jewish  community;  then  we  can  seize  the  es- 
sential spirit  of  the  comforting  message  and  show 
how  in  a  Christian  atmosphere  it  attains  to  a  larger 
meaning  and  wider  application.  The  writer  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  living  in  times  of  sudden 
change  and  fierce  persecution,  when  all  things 
seemed  to  be  shaken,  gained  help  and  blessing  from 
the  words  of  the  prophet  Haggai.  Thus  the  pro- 
phets of  all  ages  are  linked  into  one  family;  sepa- 
rated by  large  tracts  of  time,  they  form  one  com- 
pany because  they  hold  fast  to  the  essential  things 
of  God's  kingdom,  in  the  spirit  of  faith  in  God  and 
hope  for  the  future  of  the  Church.  The  circum- 
stances of  their  lives,  and  the  outward  forms  of 
their  religion  differ,  but  they  have  the  same  deep 
convictions,  the  same  interpretation  of  the  past, 
the  same  outlook  into  the  future.     They  both  see 


THE  PROPHET'S  CERTAINTY        339 

that  immense  changes  take  place  in  the  course  of 
the  world's  life ;  thrones  and  kingdoms,  nations 
and  churches  are  moved  by  gradual  change  or  vio- 
lent convulsion.  As  our  knowledge  of  the  world's 
history  is  enlarged  that  fact  becomes  ever  clearer; 
it  does  not  now  require  keen  perception  or  pro- 
found insight  to  see  that  change,  slow  or  sudden, 
is  the  all-pervading  fact.  But  that  view,  of  itself, 
may  beget  scepticism  and  indeed  has  often  had 
that  effect.  These  two  men  are  men  of  faith; 
while  fully  realizing  the  changefulness  of  life  they 
see  that  there  is  a  kingdom  which  cannot  be  shaken, 
a  church  which  cannot  be  moved.  The  two  ex- 
amples of  shaking  to  which  they  point  are  the 
same,  though  viewed  from  widely  different  stand- 
points; the  giving  of  the  law  at  Sinai,  and  the 
coming  of  the  Christ.  From  the  religious  point  of 
view,  these  are  two  of  the  most  significant  epochs 
in  the  world's  history.  When  God  delivered  Israel 
from  the  Egyptian  yoke  and  sent  the  Hebrew  tribes 
into  the  wilderness  to  seek  freedom  and  begin  a 
higher  life,  that  movement,  small  in  itself,  was  the 
dawning  of  a  larger  life  for  mankind ;  and  when 
more  than  a  thousand  years  later  the  temple  of 
Jerusalem  was  destroyed,  and  the  Gospel  went  out 
on  its  great  missionary  career,  that  was  a  fuller 
and  clearer  manifestation  of  the  same  redeeming 
purpose.  To  many  then  living  both  periods  seemed 
to  be  days  of  dark  disorder  and  utter  loss ;  it 
was  only  the  men  of  strong  faith  who  clearly  recog- 
nized the  fact  that  through  it  all  God  was  working 
to  bring  to  men  a  nobler  vision  of  Himself,  and 
a  richer  realization  of  His  kingdom.    Prophets  and 


340    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

apostles  had  their  moments  of  weakness  and  weari- 
ness, but  one  principle  was  clear  to  them,  to  this 
one  truth  they  were  always  loyal — Whatever 
changes  may  take  place,  whatever  thrones  may  fall, 
whatever  temples  may  perish  or  peoples  be  scat- 
tered, the  true  religion  must  live,  and  the  love  of 
the  Eternal  God  must  continue  to  be  revealed.  The 
things  that  are  made,  the  temporary  forms  may  be 
shaken,  but  the  eternal  purpose  of  redemption  must 
stand  out  more  clearly,  and  the  love  which  radiates 
from  the  Cross  must  more  and  more  light  up  this 
dark  world. 

We  are  often  told  that  the  present  age  is  a  time 
of  great  restlessness,  that  it  is  pre-eminently  a 
transition  period,  that  we  are  passing,  in  so  many 
ways,  from  an  old  order  that  was  known  and 
definite  to  a  new  order  which  as  yet  only  appears  in 
dim,  uncertain  outline.  True,  but  our  age  is  not 
exceptional,  we  are  only  submitting  to  a  constant 
law ;  the  movement  of  change  may  be  a  little  quick- 
er now,  but  it  is  not  confined  to  our  own  or  any 
century.  Change  is  the  unchanging  law  of  life; 
we  must  all  recognize  it  and  bow  before  it;  it  is 
only  a  part  of  life,  but  if  we  can  see  that  though  it 
often  seems  to  be  cruel,  there  is  mercy  at  the  heart 
of  it,  we  may  hail  it  in  these  jubilant  tones : 

"Rejoice  that  man  is  hurled 

From  change  to  change  unceasingly, 
His  soul's  wings  never  furled." 

(Browning.) 

Our  great  poets  see  this  truth  and  preach  to  us 
loyal  submission  to  this  law. 


THE  PROPHET'S  CERTAINTY        341 

"Meet  is  it  changes  should  control 
Our  being,  lest  we  rust  in  ease ; 
We  all  are  changed  by  still  degrees, 
All  but  the  basis  of  the  soul." 

"The  old  order  changeth,  yielding  place  to  new, 
And  God  fulfils  Himself  in  many  ways, 
Lest  one  good  custom  should  corrupt  the  world." 

(Tennyson.) 

Change  then  is  inseparable  from  life.  Some  men 
are  fickle  and  fond  of  change,  others  cling  with  timid 
fear  to  the  past.  This  is  a  matter  of  personal  feel- 
ing, individual  temperament,  but  we  must  all  try 
to  understand  the  significance  of  life's  restless 
movement  and  learn  that  while  change  counts  for 
much,  it  is  not  the  whole  story.  The  body  is  al- 
ways changing,  casting  off  its  dead  particles  and 
gaining  new  substance,  going  forward  in  healthy 
growth  until  change  begins  to  conquer  and  the 
balance  inclines  towards  decay  and  death.  The 
mind  must  ever  be  acquiring  new  thoughts  and 
seeing  the  truth  under  new  aspects;  those  who 
seem  to  remain  stagnant  are  really  drifting  back- 
ward, for  here  as  elsewhere  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  standing  still.  In  social  life  the  same;  your 
family  is  never  the  same  many  days  together; 
babies  leave  behind  their  babyhood,  the  young 
grow  out  of  their  lightness  and  irresponsibility, 
they  rise  up  to  bear  the  burdens  and  fight  the  bat- 
tles of  life.  National  life  cannot  be  marked  out 
and  limited  by  paper  constitutions,  or  bound  down 
by  stereotyped   forms;   new  forces  emerge  which 


342    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

kings  and  statesmen  may  guide,  to  some  extent,  but 
which  they  cannot  altogether  control.  There  can 
only  be  two  ways  of  viewing  this  perpetual  change ; 
one  that  it  gives  movement  to  and  fro  without  end, 
and  also  without  meaning;  such  a  view  is  correctly 
called  scepticism.  The  other  is  the  view  of  faith,  that 
it  is  a  gradual  unfolding  of  a  divine  plan  which 
may  be  hindered  or  delayed  by  our  weakness  and 
wickedness,  but  which  must  march  on  to  its  final 
triumph,  because  it  is  a  revelation  of  the  eternal 
life  of  God.  This  glorious  faith  has  been  cherished 
and  expressed  by  the  prophets  and  saints  of  all 
ages ;  at  times  it  has  been  manifested  in  simple  and 
even  rude  forms,  but  such  a  vital  principle  under 
God's  gracious  guidance  breaks  down  its  early  bar- 
riers and  corrects  its  own  childlike  errors. 

The  breaking  away  of  the  Christian  religion  from 
Judaism  was  a  tremendous  crisis,  one  of  the  most 
tragic  chapters  in  the  religious  history  of  the 
world.  It  is  difficult  for  us  to  realize  the  intense 
pain  of  the  needful  process.  We  need  not  be  sur- 
prised if  even  strong  men  were  haunted  by  the  fear 
that  in  such  a  great  crash  something  of  real  value 
might  be  irrevocably  lost.  The  writer  of  "the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews"  does  not  attempt  to  meet 
the  case  by  ridiculing  such  fear,  but  he  shows  in  a 
sympathetic  spirit  that  when  the  Christian  religion 
emerges  from  the  hard  shell  of  Judaism  it  does  not 
leave  behind  any  great  truth  or  real  force;  it  car- 
ries everything  into  a  higher  plane  and  into  a  clear- 
er light.  The  Lord  Jesus  is  not  a  destructive  critic 
or  revolutionary  reformer,  but  one  who  brings  in  the 
new  order  by  fulfilling  the  real  purpose  and  highest 


THE  PROPHET'S  CERTAINTY        343 

aim  of  the  older  forms  of  faith.  His  disciples  were 
treated  by  their  compatriots  as  men  who  had  proved 
disloyal  to  Moses,  and  who  had  forsaken  the  law 
of  God.  They,  however,  can  claim  that  they  have 
only  cast  off  the  temporary  and  changeable,  that 
they  have  found  through  Jesus  Christ  the  faith  of 
Abraham  and  the  piety  of  Moses ;  that  in  their  new 
Teacher  the  preaching  of  the  prophets  and  the  songs 
of  Zion  have  found  new  meaning  and  richer  power. 
The  shaking  has  been  very  great,  but  nothing  real 
or  divine  has  been  lost. 

The  Christian  religion  does  not  abolish  the  con- 
flict between  the  old  and  the  new;  the  same  strife 
is  still  active,  for  we  cannot  set  all  men  on  precisely 
the  same  plane  of  life.  There  will  always  be  diver- 
sity of  operations  from  the  same  spirit,  and  that  is 
the  strength  not  the  weakness  of  the  Christian 
faith.  The  simple,  sublime  faith  of  Abraham,  the 
symbolic  ritual  of  the  Jewish  church,  the  bold, 
strong  preaching  of  the  prophets,  the  lofty  theology 
of  Paul,  the  glorious  idealism  of  John ;  these  ap- 
peal to  varied  classes,  and  the  man  of  large  heart 
and  catholic  mind  can  appreciate  the  beauty  and 
significance  of  all.  Just  in  so  far  as  we  feel  the 
attraction,  and  understand  the  meaning  of  the 
Eternal  Love  manifested  in  the  Son  of  man,  shall 
we  treat  with  proper  sympathy  all  lower  and  pre- 
paratory forms  of  revelation.  Thus  shall  we  com- 
bine strength  of  conviction  with  breadth  and  ten- 
derness of  charity.  The  apostles  did  not  make  it 
their  special  business  to  denounce  the  old  forms 
and  the  earlier  faith,  but  they  firmly  resisted  all 
attempts  to  enslave  men  and  bar  the  pathway  of 


344    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

progress  by  the  power  of  tradition.  Their  think- 
ing took  a  positive  constructive  form ;  the  new  was 
cherished,  not  because  of  its  novelty,  but  because  it 
enshrined,  as  well  as  expanded,  the  old  truth. 

In  the  case  of  every  new  movement  towards 
freedom  and  largeness  of  life,  when  the  shaking 
has  been  great,  the  birth-pangs  severe,  men  who 
posed  as  leaders  of  their  fellows  have  cried  out 
that  the  church  would  surely  be  destroyed,  and  in 
consequence  religion  would  die.  In  a  spirit  of 
fear  and  with  loud  clamour,  men  have  thrust  forth 
reckless  hands  to  save  the  ark  of  God.  Let  us 
remember  in  our  times  of  panic  that  no  outside  at- 
tack can  do  so  much  harm  as  our  sloth  and  un- 
belief; it  is  rather  late  in  the  day  to  imagine  that 
religion  can  easily  be  killed  or  that  God  will  fail 
to  defend  His  truth  in  the  day  of  battle.  We  must 
be  ready  to  part  with  that  which  can  really  be 
shaken  and  destroyed,  though  the  loss  of  some  of 
these  things  may  seem  for  a  time  to  tear  away  part 
of  our  real  self;  through  such  seeming  loss  the  un- 
seen kingdom  will  advance  to  fuller  revelation, 
and  in  our  intellectual  life  we  may  learn  that  it 
is  possible  to  take  up  our  cross  and  follow  the 
Christ   into   a   larger   world. 

There  are  many  devout  people  who  are  bewil- 
dered by  advancing  knowledge  or  thrown  into  panic 
by  the  keenness  of  present  criticism.  They  fear 
that  as  he  realizes  the  immensity  of  the  universe 
man  will  be  driven  to  confess  his  utter  insignifi- 
cance, and  that  then  his  mysticism,  which  magni- 
fies the  importance  of  the  soul,  will  be  rebuked,  and 
religion  thus  stricken  at  the  roots  will  die.     If  we 


THE  PROPHET'S  CERTAINTY        345 

come  to  See  that  we  have  sprung  from  the  dust,  not 
by  instantaneous  command,  but  through  a  long, 
slow  process,  another  blow  will  be  struck  at  our 
spiritual  conceit,  and  the  life  will  go  out  of  that 
noble  cry,  "I  am  poor  and  needy,  but  the  Lord 
thinketh  upon  me."  Or  if  we  find  that  the  Bible 
grew  and  attained  its  present  wonderful  form  by 
processes  which  are  very  imperfectly  represented 
by  ancient  tradition,  then  in  the  hour  when  the 
truth  and  beauty  of  this  great  literature  is  most 
fully  and  reasonably  vindicated,  we  shall  lose  our 
faith  in  the  inspiring  guiding  Spirit.  Sometimes 
men  from  whom  the  church  expects  guidance 
stand  up  trembling  and  confess  their  fear  that  the 
battle  is  too  fierce,  the  strain  too  hard;  if  we  can- 
not have  quietness  they  fear  the  people  will  go 
back  and  sit  down  under  the  shadow  of  some  great 
and  ancient  authority,  where  they  can  have  the  rest 
which  Protestantism  does  not  give.  Certainly 
there  will  always  be  found  some  foolish  enough  to 
commit  spiritual  suicide  in  a  time  of  great  strain, 
but  while  we  may  be  sorry  for  that  we  must  not 
look  behind  us.  "Speak  unto  the  children  of  Is- 
rael that  they  go  forward,"  is  always  God's  word 
to  the  prophet.  If  our  faith  cannot  stand  the 
strain  of  changing  forms  it  is  weak  and  unworthy 
of  the  name  of  loyalty  to  the  living  God.  In  every 
century  some  have  uttered  the  doleful  prophecy 
that  if  the  form  of  knowledge  changes  faith  must 
surely  die.  Thank  God,  those  were  not  the  true 
prophets !  One  of  the  distinctive  messages  of  real 
prophecy,  a  message  that  grew  to  clearness  in  dark, 
tragic  hours,  was  this,  that  temples  may  perish  and 


346    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

creeds  change  but  religion  will  not  die.  History 
vindicates  the  prophet  though  his  contemporaries 
found  him  lacking  in  their  particular  kind  of  pa- 
triotism and  piety.  In  spite  of  paltry  fears,  true 
religion  has  grown,  knowledge  and  reverence  have 
gone  hand  in  hand  to  new  victories. 

The  Old  Testament  is  specially  instructive  from 
this  point  of  view ;  one  of  its  many  missions  is  to 
show  us  a  devout  religious  spirit  working  in  and 
through  a  great  variety  of  forms.  We  have  the 
earlier  forms  of  the  Hebrew  religion,  when  the 
father  of  the  family  or  head  of  the  tribe  was  king 
and  priest.  There  is  the  sublime  revelation  given 
to  Moses,  involving  the  birth  of  a  nation,  and  in 
simple  forms  the  beginning  of  a  religious  move- 
ment which  through  processes  of  growth  reaches 
its  high  destiny.  The  prophets  are  both  conserva- 
tives and  reformers;  they  fight  against  degenera- 
tion, and  meet  this  danger  in  the  only  possible  way 
by  stimulating  living  progress.  When  we  come  to 
the  Jewish  religion  in  its  final  form,  the  Levitical 
system  with  its  one  central  sanctuary  and  its  all- 
embracing  ritual,  we  find  that  though  the  religious 
life  and  institutions  bear  the  marks  of  many  a  con- 
flict, yet  they  have  in  large  measure  been  trans- 
formed by  the  constant  stream  of  lofty  teaching 
which  is  the  manifestation  of  a  growing  revelation. 
Prophet  and  priest  often  confronted  each  other  as 
representatives  of  apparently  opposite  ideas  and  ir- 
reconcilable interests,  but  in  the  final  product  the 
influence  of  the  best  in  both  has  been  beautifully 
blended.     Here  as  elsewhere,  every  stage  of  the 


THE  PROPHET'S  CERTAINTY        347 

upward  movement  meant  strife  and  loss  to  the  in- 
dividual life;  it  was  the  everlasting  process,  the 
ever-present  mystery  of  gain  through  loss.  Not 
by  mere  lapse  of  time,  but  by  a  living  movement  to 
which  countless  souls  contributed  their  noblest 
spiritual  treasure,  "the  fulness  of  time"  was  ushered 
in,  and  there  came  One  who  sums  up  many  revela- 
tions in  the  words,  "God  is  spirit,  and  they  that 
worship  Him  must  worship  Him  in  spirit  and  in 
truth."  Here  we  reach  the  true  Temple  mount ;  the 
air  is  clear,  and  the  view  is  exceedingly  large. 

Every  important  epoch  in  the  life  of  humanity 
and  of  the  Church  illustrates  in  a  special  manner 
this  great  law  of  life.  When  Luther  with  mag- 
nificent boldness  and  reverence  declared  afresh 
the  everlasting  truth  that  "the  just  shall  live 
by  faith,"  the  official  representatives  of  the 
dominant  system  declared  that  religion  was  at- 
tacked, the  Church  was  in  danger  and  must  be 
defended  by  fire  and  sword.  Now  it  is  easy  to  see 
that  though  vested  interests  were  assailed,  old 
traditions  superseded  and  vain  superstitions  swept 
away,  even  the  fierce  strife  of  those  stormy  times 
did  not  destroy  any  essential  truth  or  cast  discredit 
upon  any  vital  element  of  the  Christian  faith. 
Luther  with  his  union  of  reverence  and  boldness,  his 
vindication  of  freedom  and  his  sure  instinct  for  the 
essential  things  is  a  fine  specimen  of  the  prophetic 
spirit  acting  under  more  modern  conditions,  and 
hence  a  noble  example  for  us.  It  would  have  been 
well  if  that  great  movement  could  have  been  man- 
aged with  less  violence,  but  we  must  remember  that 


348   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

gentle  efforts  to  reform  the  church  from  within 
had  failed;  God  does  not  shake  either  earth  or 
heaven  without  good   reason. 

The  proof  of  the  divinity  and  absoluteness  of 
our  religion  is  its  capacity  of  constantly  renewing 
its  fires  of  love  and  enthusiasm  at  the  Cross.  In 
the  eighteenth  century  men  who  boasted  in  their 
shallow  scepticism,  declared  that  it  was  no  use 
wasting  arguments  over  a  dead  cause.  Christianity 
was  dying  of  weakness  and  old  age ;  it  was  a  blood- 
less, withered  system.  As  is  now  admitted,  Bishop 
Butler  was  intellectually  more  than  a  match  for 
men  of  that  type,  but  the  real  reply  was  the  faith- 
ful preaching  of  the  love  of  God  manifested  in 
Jesus  Christ;  this  under  such  leaders  as  Wesley 
and  Whitefield  created  a  new  evangelistic  missionary 
movement  which  has  encircled  the  world  with  its 
message  of  love,  and  exerted  a  far-reaching  in- 
fluence in  every  sphere  of  thought  and  life. 
-  The  French  Revolution,  whose  baleful  fires  cast 
a  lurid  light  on  the  closing  years  of  the  same  cen- 
tury, was  one  of  the  greatest  shakings  that  the 
modern  world  has  known.  Many  good  men  in  dif- 
ferent lands  at  first  hailed  the  movement  with  joy- 
ful hope  as  the  dawning  of  a  new  day  of  liberty 
and  righteousness,  but  soon  all  but  the  boldest  sym- 
pathizers shrank  back  in  horror  from  the  terrible 
excesses.  They  saw  that  it  was  one  of  the  dark 
days  of  the  Lord,  a  day  of  fire  and  blood.  But 
even  "The  Reign  of  Terror"  could  not  destroy  any 
great  truth.  Some  useful  things  were  no  doubt 
consumed  in  that  burning  of  wood,  hay  and  stubble, 


THE  PROPHET'S  CERTAINTY        349 

but  when  violent  passion  has  spent  its  force,  it  is 
seen  that,  though  not  the  highest  manifestation, 
God  does  work  through  the  earthquake  and  the 
fire. 

It  is  an  appropriate  conclusion  to  our  considera- 
tion of  the  varied  forms  of  prophetic  teaching  to 
dwell  with  special  emphasis  upon  the  fact  that  faith 
abides  and  grows  through  changing  forms;  to  us 
this  is  a  commonplace,  but  two  things  are  worthy 
of  emphasis  in  this  connection :  first,  this  is  a 
truth  that  the  ancient  prophets  had  to  learn  in 
painful  ways,  and  second,  each  reverent,  believing 
man  to-day  must  have  it  vivified  and  appro- 
priated to  his  personal  experience,  and  it  may  be 
in  his  case  not  without  paim  Having  tried  then 
to  expound  and  illustrate  some  of  the  great  truths 
revealed  to  the  ancient  prophets,  we  may  strive  to 
hold  in  our  own  way  this  great  conviction.  There  is 
a  kingdom  that  cannot  be  shaken,  a  kingdom  of  truth 
and  righteousness,  of  faith  and  love.  Into  that 
kingdom  we  may  enter  by  personal  submission  to 
the  real  Saviour  and  King.  This  kingdom  had 
great  part  of  its  preparation  in  the  ministry  of  the 
prophets ;  it  received  its  highest  revelation  in  the 
Son  of  man ;  it  is  ever  coming,  and  for  its  coming 
we  make  our  daily  prayer.  That  kingdom  is  not 
wedded  to  one  form ;  in  time  it  has  had  many  forms 
and  in  eternity  it  will  continue  to  create  new  forms. 
Its  glory  is  that  it  works  from  within  outwards, 
moulding  for  itself  ever  clearer,  more  adequate,  and 
so  more  beautiful  expression.  Small  kingdoms 
built  up  through  earthly  greed  and  selfish  pride 


350   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

will  be  shaken  and  shattered;  "the  day  of  the 
Lord"  scatters  all  shams  and  unrealities,  but  this 
kingdom  comes  into  fuller  freedom  through  the 
fiercest  judgments,  and  larger,  sweeter  significance 
grows  into  the  old  watchword,  "Jesus  Christ,  the 
same  yesterday,  today  and  forever." 


CONCLUSION 

THE  ANCIENT  PROPHET  AND  THE  MOD- 
ERN PREACHER 


"But  the  ultimate  fountain  of  the  prophetic  preaching 
is  the  passion  to  win  men.  This  is  the  secret  both  of  the 
pathos  and  the  splendours  of  its  style.  To  the  Prophets 
preaching  was  no  mere  display,  but  a  sore  battle  with  the 
hard  hearts  of  their  contemporaries,  in  which  the  messenger 
of  the  Lord  worked  with  the  pity  of  his  weakness  upon 
him,  at  a  supreme  cost  to  himself  and  conscious  that  he 
must  summon  to  his  desperate  task  every  resource  of 
feeling  and  of  art." — Dr.  G.  A.  Smith,  "Modern  Criticism 
and  the  Preaching  of  the  Old  Testament,"  page  281. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 
CONCLUSION 

THE  ANCIENT  PROPHET  AND  THE  MODERN  PREACHER 

If  the  Christian  minister  is  not  in  some  deep  sense 
a  messenger  of  God  there  seems  to  be  no  special 
reason  why  he  should  survive  in  highly  civilized 
communities.  There  was  a  time  when  all  education 
was  included  in  the  formal  circle  of  the  Church's 
life,  and  the  clergyman  or  priest  was  the  chief  or 
only  teacher.  By  fierce  revolution  or  slow  develop- 
ment all  that  has  been  changed.  The  schoolmaster, 
the  journalist,  the  novelist  and  many  others  have 
acquired  a  share  in  the  teaching  function,  and  to 
some  it  seems  as  if  the  preacher  was  to  be  driven 
into  a  corner,  and  that  a  very  small  corner.  Indeed, 
there  are  not  wanting  voices  to  cry  that  it  is  time  he 
was  superannuated,  and  some  even  to  suggest  that 
it  is  an  impertinence  for  mortal  man  to  speak  to  his 
fellows  concerning  the  deep  things  of  God.  More 
than  ever  do  we  need  to  realize  the  words  of  the 
great  apostle,  "We  have  this  treasure  in  earthen 
vessels  that  the  excellency  of  the  power  may  be  of 
God  and  not  of  us."  If  we  would  face  this  bold 
attack  there  must  be  strong  conviction  not  only  that 
we  have  a  great  revelation  to  expound,  and  a  fair 
equipment  for  the  handling  of  it,  but  also  that  we 
have  a  living  vocation,  and  stand  in  the  line  of  an 
353 


354    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

honourable  succession,  that  this  is  as  true  to-day  as 
in  the  supreme  moment  of  Isaiah's  great  vision ;  the 
Eternal  King  needs  men  to  speak  for  Him;  men, 
it  may  be,  to  deliver  an  unpopular  message,  to  pro- 
voke a  deeper  thoughtfulness,  and  to  break  up  the 
stagnation  into  which  all  organized  religion  is  prone 
to  settle. 

Here  we  have  one  point  of  contact  between  the 
modern  preacher  and  the  men  who  by  God's  grace 
guided  the  life  of  Israel  to  ever  loftier  heights.  The 
great  prophets  were  speakers  rather  than  authors.  It 
is  in  later  times  when  prophecy  is  about  to  vanish 
that  the  literary  aspects  are  more  prominent.  The 
difficulty  to-day  of  understanding  many  of  the  pro- 
phetic writings  springs  from  this  fact,  that  they  are 
not  logically  connected  and  carefully  polished  essays, 
but  fragmentary  remains  of  spoken  discourse.  The 
criticism  to  which  these  writings  have  been  sub- 
jected during  the  past  century  has  tended  to  place 
the  predictive  element  in  a  more  subordinate  place 
by  showing  that  the  ancient  prophets  were  in  the 
fullest  sense  living  men  speaking  to  their  own  times. 
This  is  surely  what  we  may  hope  to  be,  knowing 
that  we  possess  a  fuller  light  and  may  be  quickened 
by  the  same  spirit.  We  have  to  be  teachers  even  as 
they  were,  and  our  teaching  has  to  assume  the  form 
of  preaching,  that  is,  it  is  not  the  lecturer's  scientific 
discussion  of  a  given  theme,  or  the  brilliant  product 
of  the  artistic  essayist,  it  is  teaching  revolving 
round  and  radiating  from  a  certain  centre,  that  cen- 
tral point  being  the  act  of  heralding  the  King,  call- 
ing men  to  the  Cross,  beseeching  them  to  be  recon- 
ciled to  God  and  declaring  forgiveness  to  penitent 


CONCLUSION  355 

souls.  Thus  the  preaching  of  Isaiah,  his  appeals,  his 
predictions  of  approaching  judgment  stand  all  or- 
ganically related  to  his  central  conception  of  the 
divine  King;  and  so  in  the  forefront  of  a  New  Tes- 
tament book,  which  is  unsurpassed  for  its  variety  of 
teaching  and  its  penetrating  application  of  Christian 
principles  to  individual  and  social  life,  we  have  the 
announcement,  "I  determined  not  to  know  anything 
among  you  save  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified." 
We  hear  very  much  now  about  "preaching  to  the 
times/'  and  it  is  a  very  good  phrase,  if  rightly  con- 
strued, but  no  superficial  sociology  can  meet  the 
case.*  If  the  mystic  element  falls  out  of  our  preach- 
ing, and  we  live  upon  the  mere  surface  of  things, 
we  are  as  preachers  dead  men,  and  dead  men  can 
never  raise  the  dead.  If  we  are  to  face  the  present 
with  real  force  we  must  hold  fast  to  the  great  things 
of  the  past  and  cherish  an  inspiring  view  of  the 
future.  This  is  our  wisdom  and  our  life,  as  it  was 
the  spirit  of  the  true  prophet.  Emerson  speaking 
of  "the  wise  man,"  said,  "he  needs  no  library,  for  he 
has  not  done  thinking;  no  church,  for  he  is  a  pro- 
phet." Alas,  the  difficulty  with  this  wise  man  is  the 
difficulty  of  finding  him;  he  is  a  purely  ideal  con- 
ception. The  One  whom  we  recognize  as  the  ideal 
of  manhood  was  glad  to  use  the  great  library  of  His 
people  and  content  to  sit  with  His  lowly  brethren  in 
the  church.  The  people  whom  we  have  to  face 
do  not  claim  in  this  sense  to  be  wise ;  in  their  deeper 
moments  they  confess  their  ignorance  and  their 
need  ;  they  are  willing  to  listen  to  a  calm,  clear  voice 


*See  Chapter  XIX. 


356   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

which  in  natural  tones  and  with  the  accent  of  con- 
viction speaks  to  them  of  the  deep  things  of  man 
and  the  great  things  of  God. 

It  would  be  easy  to  fill  up  our  brief  space  with  a 
bare  catalogue  of  differences  and  similarities  be- 
tween the  ancient  prophet  and  modern  preacher,  but 
such  a  list  would  not  be  specially  luminous,  and  it 
would  be  difficult  to  make  it  so  without  a  larger 
sketch  of  the  history  of  prophecy  and  a  more  search- 
ing examination  of  the  various  forms  which  it  as- 
sumed during  the  long,  painful  development  of 
Israel's  religious  life.  One  or  two  points  of  this 
kind  must,  however,  be  noted  if  we  are  not  to  lose 
ourselves  in  vague  generalities. 

The  Hebrew  prophet  lived  before  the  Christ  and 
prepared  the  way  for  His  coming.  The  relative  im- 
perfections of  the  prophet's  message  as  well  as  the 
depth  of  the  prophet's  life  was  a  prophecy  of  the 
Christian  revelation,  an  inspiration  toward  it  and  a 
clearing  the  way  for  it.  Still  it  would  not  be  alto- 
gether correct  to  say  that  the  prophet  looked  forward 
while  the  preacher  looks  backward.  That  is  a  crude 
contrast,  which  if  taken  too  literally  becomes  false. 
Though  we  have  much  greater  things  behind  us,  our 
look  must  still  be  towards  the  future.  We  still  need 
insight  and  foresight.  Our  Lord's  atonement  is  not 
simply  "a  finished  work";  it  is  the  divine  fire  of 
self-sacrifice  which  ever  renews  itself.  His  life  is 
not  a  mere  memory,  but  a  perennial  ideal.  His  teach- 
ing is  full  of  startling  suggestions  rather  than 
smooth,  complete  dogmas.  Though  we  have  so 
much  to  interpret  and  apply  we  must  not  become 
mere  theological  lawyers.     Our  religion  is  living 


CONCLUSION  357 

revelation,  not  dead  history,  and  it  presses  eagerly 
forward  to  richer  fulfilment. 

The  original  prophets  were  the  creators  of  the 
Church  in  the  spiritual  sense,  and  they  were  led  by 
slow  stages  to  ever  clearer  views  of  its  true  nature, 
until,  in  Jeremiah's  doctrine  of  the  new  covenant, 
we  have  an  anticipation  of  the  deep  individual  exper- 
ience which,  in  the  Christian  Church,  should  be 
combined  with  the  purest  social  communion.  We 
live  in  the  Church,  which  is  separate  from  the  State ; 
it  is  highly  organized;  in  fact,  we  are  sometimes 
tempted  to  think  there  is  too  much  organization.  We 
are  swallowed  up  in  the  organization,  and  are  in  dan- 
ger of  becoming  slaves  to  mere  routine,  for  we  are 
expected  to  have  a  message  twice  every  Sunday  and 
several  times  during  the  week.  Yet  most  of  us  will 
do  well  to  fight  the  unceasing  battle  against  a  me- 
chanical, materialistic  religion  within  the  Church 
rather  than  raise  a  standard  of  revolt  in  the  name 
of  freedom  and  individualism,  thus  proving  that  we 
have  mistaken  eccentricity  for  inspiration. 

The  ancient  prophet  was  more  national  in  his  posi- 
tion and  outlook ;  in  his  case  religion  and  patriotism 
were  two  sides  of  the  same  life.  We  need  to  get 
back  to  that  condition  with  a  difference.  The  Old 
Testament  has  still  a  large  ministry  to  exercise  in 
this  particular.  The  prophets  taught  with  mighty 
power  and  richness  of  ethical  application  the  brother- 
hood of  men,  even  if  it  was  the  brotherhood  of 
Israelitish  men.  To  them  the  social  sins  which 
sapped  the  life  of  the  State  were  not  simply  political 
blunders  or  ordinary  manifestations  of  selfishness ; 
they  were  acts  of  treason  against  the  Eternal  King. 


358    PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

The  prophets'  treatment  of  social  questions  may  be 
to  us  a  tonic  which  will  save  us  from  a  shallow  in- 
dividualism and  a  spurious  evangelism.  We  must 
learn  to  unite  in  a  living  whole  the  individualism  of 
Jeremiah  and  Paul  with  the  civic  consciousness  and 
conscience  of  Amos  and  Isaiah. 

There  is  still  a  deeper  difference;  we  cannot  rid 
ourselves  of  the  feeling  that  there  is  something 
unique  in  the  position  and  power  of  the  ancient  pro- 
phet, so  that  when  we  are  applying  the  name  to  our 
noblest  men  we  are  using  it  in  a  secondary  sense. 
That  point  will  bear  much  investigation,  but  this 
uniqueness  seems  in  part  to  consist  in  the  fact  that 
they  were  divinely  appointed  interpreters  of  a 
nation's  destiny  and  guides  of  its  life  until  by  a  won- 
derful providence  an  insignificant  Semitic  tribe  be- 
came the  "servant  of  Jehovah,"  a  nation  with  a 
religious  vocation,  a  missionary  hope,  and  a  message 
of  permanent  and  universal  significance.  This  also 
is  "a  finished  work,"  the  product  of  a  special  provi- 
dence which  "shall  be  to  the  Lord  for  a  name,  an 
everlasting  sign  which  shall  not  be  cut  off."  We 
cannot  aspire  to  that  precise  position  and  yet  it  seems 
sometimes  as  if  our  reformers  and  noblest  leaders 
have  come  very  near  to  it  when  they  rediscovered 
the  Bible  and  applied  to  the  enfranchisement  of 
nations  those  great  truths  concerning  God's  right- 
eousness, man's  responsibility  and  the  spirituality 
of  religion.  While  this  unique  position  can  be 
claimed  for  the  noblest  prophets  who  united  the 
highest  poetic  genius  with  the  purest  religious  pas- 
sion, it  shades  off  by  almost  imperceptible  degrees 
into  the  broader  prophetic  life  which  we  by  divine 


CONCLUSION  359 

grace  may  hope  to  share,  and  it  is  mere  mental 
analysis  which  cuts  it  out  and  makes  it  the  subject  of 
separate  contemplation. 

There  is  another  feature  of  the  prophetic  life  which 
we  must  not  neglect.  The  prophet  was  an  inter- 
cessor, a  representative  of  men  in  the  presence  of 
God  as  well  as  a  messenger  from  God  to  men. 
Hungry,  helpless  men  turned  to  him  with  the  cry, 
"Pray  for  us."  The  sublime  fact  of  intercession 
finds  its  highest  fulfilment  in  the  mediation  of 
Jesus  Christ,  so  that  the  lofty  monotheism  of  the 
Hebrew  prophets  being  translated  into  Christian 
language  reads  thus :  "There  is  one  God  and 
one  mediator  between  God  and  man,  the  man 
Christ  Jesus."  This  also  was  in  some  measure 
anticipated  in  the  life  of  the  prophet.  The  Psalms 
are  prophetic  and  it  has  been  well  said  that  if  in 
the  prophetic  writings  God  is  speaking  to  man, 
in  the  Psalms  man  speaks  to  God.  Intercession 
is  to-day  the  privilege  of  every  true  believer  who 
has  appropriated  the  great  sacrifice  and  come  into 
living  fellowship  with  the  High  Priest.  But  those 
whom  He  has  counted  worthy  and  called  into  the 
holy  ministry  have  in  a  special  manner  to  keep  this 
truth  alive.  Sometimes  it  seems  more  difficult  to 
speak  to  God  for  men  than  it  is  to  speak  to  men  for 
God,  and  it  may  be  that  we  feel  here  more  deeply  our 
dependence  on  the  Divine  Spirit.  What  a  solemn 
task  is  this,  not  only  to  plead  in  general  terms  for 
"all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,"  but  to  enter  in- 
timately into  the  life  of  our  people,  to  express  with 
reverent  reserve  and  tender  delicacy  their  sins  and 
sorrows,  their  needs  and  hopes,  their  deepest  desires, 


360   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

most  pathetic  pleadings  and  noblest  aspirations. 
Only  when  we  cast  ourselves  upon  the  Holy  Spirit 
and  faithful  worshippers  kindle  around  us  the  at- 
mosphere of  prayer  can  this  high  duty  be  rightly  dis- 
charged. But  if  this  is  attained  real  preaching  is 
possible  and  it  will  have  some  touch  of  prophetic 
power. 

Let  us  rejoice,  then,  that  we  may  still  possess  the 
prophetic  faith  and  cultivate  the  prophetic  qualities. 
Some  may  think  that  this  is  dangerous  counsel,  see- 
ing that  the  prophets  were  in  so  many  cases  unpop- 
ular men,  and  had  often  in  bitterness  of  soul  to  com- 
mend themselves  to  God  and  the  future  time.  This 
does  not  necessarily  mean  that  a  man  cannot  possibly 
be  a  noble  man,  a  clear  thinker,  and  at  the  same  time 
a  popular  preacher.  Let  us  be  thankful  that  in  our 
day  such  a  rash  inference  is  contradicted  by  many 
brilliant  examples.  Still  it  is  probable  that  if  mere 
popularity  is  sought  it  is  more  likely  to  be  gained  by 
qualifications  which  the  prophets  did  not  cultivate, 
namely,  the  ability  to  express  the  average  belief  in 
bold,  brilliant  style,  which  makes  up  in  dogmatic 
assertion  what  is  lacking  in  intellectual  clearness 
and  moral  depth. 

The  prophet's  faith  is  in  the  reign  of  a  righteous 
God  and  the  undying  nature  of  religion.  The  polit- 
ical order  might  fail  and  ecclesiastical  systems  might 
fall  to  pieces,  but  God  would  manifest  Himself  and 
faith  would  abide.  This  was  the  prophet's  faith,  a 
faith  which  sometimes  brought  upon  him  the  charge 
of  unbelief  and  want  of  patriotism.  These  truths 
must  still  be  convictions  of  faith  and  not  mere  mat- 


CONCLUSION  361 

ters  of  tradition.  Each  generation  must  see  them 
and  appropriate  them  afresh  in  its  own  way.  Our 
formal  creed  may  be  larger  and  more  minute,  and 
yet  we  may  lack  the  breadth,  simplicity,  and  strength 
of  the  prophet's  faith  in  God.  It  would  cure  both 
a  narrow  dogmatism  and  a  belated  ritualism  to  come 
into  closer  contact  with  those  strong  men  who  fought 
so  nobly  the  shallow  infidelity  and  the  sensuous  cere- 
monialism of  their  own  time.  If  we  are  to  have 
a  living  pulpit  the  old  faith  must  live  with  the  new 
science,  and  the  puritanism  of  the  prophets  must  be 
chastened  by  the  gentleness  of  the  Christ;  the 
teacher  must  speak  out  of  a  living  experience,  and 
not  simply  from  the  learning  of  the  schools ;  mere 
professionalism  must  be  conquered  by  the  strength 
of  the  man  who  can  say,  "We  also  believe  and  there- 
fore speak." 

The  prophetic  qualities  are  insight,  constancy  and 
courage,  and  surely  these  are  needed  as  much  as 
ever.  Insight,  to  see  God  in  our  own  souls,  and  be- 
hind the  ever-increasing  wonder  of  the  world ;  to  see 
deep  into  the  life  of  our  own  time,  to  sorrow  over 
the  weakness  of  the  Church  as  well  as  to  rejoice  in 
her  strength  and  beauty,  to  see  the  dangers  of  pop- 
ular movements  as  well  as  their  advantages,  to  see 
these  things  clearly  and  in  right  proportions,  to 
speak  of  them  not  in  harsh,  cynical  tones,  but  with 
tender,  hopeful  sympathy — this  the  Church  now 
needs  and  demands  from  her  prophets.  Constancy 
to  hold  fast  to  our  message  when  we  have  found  it 
true  and  appropriate,  to  test  it  in  various  lights  and 
apply  it  in  different  circumstances.     To  move  on 


362   PROPHETIC  IDEAS  AND  IDEALS 

with  unswerving  perseverance  when  reward  is  small 
and  applause  silent,  when  our  noblest  thought  is 
misinterpreted  and  our  best  effort  is  misunderstood ; 
to  accept  it  as  our  reward  that  we  have  led  some  to 
see  that  their  little  world  is  not  exactly  God's  great 
universe  and  that  the  measurements  of  the  spiritual 
world  are  very  high  and  very  deep ;  in  other  words, 
to  make  religion  purer  and  more  thoughtful  is  the 
aim  of  the  true  teacher.  This  demands  courage  as 
well  as  constancy,  courage  to  differ  from  the  current 
standard,  to  refuse  to  bow  down  at  the  altar  of  aver- 
age opinions,  and  make  a  god  of  shallow  conven- 
tionality. It  means  to  have  boldness  without  impu- 
dence, sternness  without  censoriousness,  authority 
without  dogmatism,  tenderness  without  effeminate 
gush.  These  are  prophetic  qualities  still  attainable 
by  the  man  who  lives  near  to  God  and  lives  for  his 
fellow-men.  The  Church  needs  many  gifts  to  min- 
ister to  her  varied  life,  but  without  prophetic  men 
she  cannot  live  at  all  in  any  valid  sense;  without 
men  inspired  and  inspiring  she  declines  into  a  mere 
machine,  and  a  machine  can  never  represent  the 
living  Christ.  Her  work  is  still  to  present  a  lofty 
thought  of  God,  and  to  preach  the  religion  of 
humanity,  the  religion  of  the  Cross.  The  highest 
product  of  her  life  is  not  in  splendid  buildings  or 
gorgeous  ceremonies,  but  in  the  lives  of  men  and 
women  who  recognize  that  the  God  and  Father 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  moves  through  all  spheres, 
and  that  self-sacrifice  is  the  law  of  the  highest  life. 
We  are  thankful  for  all  central  truths  that  great 
thinkers  have  proved  and  poets  sung,  but  a  hungry 


CONCLUSION  363 

world  demands  that  these  treasures  of  eternal  truth 
shall  continually  find  fresh  forms  of  speech  and  new 
manifestations  in  the  lowly  lives  of  faithful  men. 
To  this  end  work  the  ancient  prophet  and  the  mod- 
ern preacher,  and  God  never  leaves  Himself  without 
a  witness. 


Date  Due 


rACULTY 

QE16'52 


FAGtftrr~~ 


